Megan Leslie speech
December 6th – Montreal Massacre Anniversary
“In looking for answers we ask ourselves why because we can take comfort in the answer to why,” said Halifax MP Megan Leslie.
“It contains phrases that allow us some distance: lone gunman; isolated incident; psychotic break. And we let ourselves think: ‘Oh, that’s why. All those reasons are very separate, very separate from me. They’re unique. I am not culpable. I am not in danger.’ But the question that we do need to ask ourselves is what? What is it about our culture that made the shooter blame feminists for everything that was wrong? What is it going to take to change things? And what can I do?
“The answer to these questions is unsettling because it makes us face very uncomfortable facts that we live in a culture of casual misogyny. We live in a culture that pays attention to women most often when it wants to berate us, blame us or compare us to each other. And we don’t do enough to fight it.”
Domestic violence touches many more lives than we are likely to know, Ms. Leslie said.
“But I do not feel that the events on Dec. 6 were an exaggerated version of domestic violence,” she said.
“I believe that they were an extreme form of gender terrorism that happens so much all around us, so much that we hardly even recognize it for what it is anymore.”
Ms. Leslie said she promised herself to speak out when she witnesses sexist behaviour and violence against women. She urged the crowd to do the same.
“On Dec. 6, 1989, 14 women were shot because someone thought that they had stepped out of line. On that day, their power and potential was taken from them, and on this day and on all days we owe it to them not to waste ours.”