Twenty-nine years ago, Marc Lepine walked onto the campus of Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal, and opened fire, killing 14 women. The reason for targeting those women was because of their gender.

Now, across Canada, the day is marked as the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.

Juli Dzuba is a community outreach coordinator with Envision Counselling and Support Services in southeast Saskatchewan.

“We just want to remember that this is something that happened, and know this is still an issue we need to work on today,” Dzuba explained when asked why the day needs to be commemorated.

“We think that we kind of have this equality that we have going on in our communities, but it's important to remember we still have a long way to go and that we’re not completely equal, and that gender-based violence is still happening in our communities and in our province,” Dzuba added.

Envision has offices in four centres in the southeast - Weyburn, Estevan, Carlyle and Oxbow. Dzuba said they are able to help provide support for those in the region who are victims of gender-based violence.

To mark the occasion, Saskatchewan MLAs wore white ribbons in the legislature, The white ribbon campaign started in 1991 to raised awareness about, and condemn gender-based violence.

In recent years, the provincial government has developed new programs and policies in response to the Domestic Violence Death Review. These include the launch of the Legal Information and Advice for Survivors of Sexual Violence, the introduction of Clare's Law in Saskatchewan, and the expansion of the Status of Women Officer to develop a plan to address interpersonal violence and abuse.