Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
The information for the administrative history was provided by the Women's Monument Project Committee.
The Women's Monument Project was founded in 1990 by Christine McDowell, a Capilano College student, in response to the massacre of fourteen women at Montreal's l'Ecole Polytechnique on December 6, 1989. Genevieve Bergeron, Nathalie Croteau, Anne-Marie Edward, Barbara Klucznik, Maryse Leclair, Sonia Pelletier, Annie St-Arneault, Helene Colgan, Barbara Daigneault, Maud Haviernick, Maryse Laganiere, Anne-Marie Lemay, Michele Richard and Annie Turcotte all died at the hands of a man who said he killed them because they were women. A few months after the unveiling of the monument, Marker of Change, by artist Beth Alber in Thornton Park in Vancouver on December 6, 1997, the Project became inactive. The Project's objectives were to focus national attention on the widespread problem of male violence against women; to build a permanent public art memorial to the fourteen women and to all women who have been victims of violence; to create a lasting testament to the value of women, the sanctity of human life and the refusal to be defeated by violence; and, to offer employment opportunities to women in all aspects of the Project from fundraising to design to construction. Through its fundraising and consciousness-raising efforts, the Project made contact with thousands of individual donors from across Canada and around the world, with community groups, unions and associations, schools, corporations, government, private foundations and the media.
A Committee coordinated the Project. The floor of the Orientation Stand at the Monument site states, "A feminist project realized by a small group of women in collaboration with Capilano College, with love for all people." During the Project's eight-year duration, from 3 to 10 women actively served on the Committee at any given time. Committee members included Lisa Brisebois, Kim Bruce, Janine Carscadden, Dawn Dalley, Christine McDowell, Vanessa Pasqualetto, Krista Marshall, Lianne Payne, Lindsay Setzer, and Elinor Warkentin. Other members were Susan Anderson, Gail Attara, Rita Beiks, Jennifer Bradley, Lorna Brown, Margot Butler, Karen Egger, Alexandra Ewashen, Maura Gatensby, Cate Jones, Deborah MacFarlane, Kelly Phillips, Wonda Seaboyer, Elena Shragge and Maria Walther. Many volunteers who did not sit on the Committee also participated in the Project. Carol McCandless and Olga Kempo represented Capilano College.
Usually meeting every two weeks, the Committee was a forum for collective decision-making. In 1992 a paid, part-time staff position was created, and in late 1993 a Coordinator for the national design competition was hired for ten months. There was no core funding; these positions were supported through government grants or fundraising.
Capilano College sponsored the Project by providing its endorsement, infrastructure (such as office space and telephones), charitable tax status, and administrative support.