Societal Futures

It has been 33 years since a gunman shot and killed 14 women at the École Polytechnique de Montréal on December 6, 1989. Below, two Waterloo Engineering alumni and a current student reflect on what the attack continues to mean for them as women in engineering.

‘We must never grow complacent’

Brad Regehr’s (BA ’93) journey to become the first Indigenous president of the Canadian Bar Association (CBA) began while working a shift at the Turnkey Desk, at what was then called the Campus Centre.

Regehr, a history and religious studies student, saw Elijah Harper, a politician and Indigenous leader, help block the Meech Lake Accord in 1990. That same year, he watched Indigenous people blocking development on disputed lands near the town of Oka, Quebec.