"We're not used to this in Canada" is how one person put it to me. "This kind of American-style violence is not who we are," another said. Ah, the delusional Canadian. Is there any other kind?
No doubt, you can never get used to such an absurd act of violence. However, that doesn't mean we shouldn't be a little more aware by now. Where American violence sticks in our minds, the Canadian variation slides right of our backs.
Was this shooting a first for the city of Montreal?
No. As far as killing sprees go, before Gill there was Valery Fabrikant who opened fire and killed four colleagues at Concordia University. He is presently serving a life sentence. Prior to Fabrikant Marc Lépine killed 14 women at the University of Montreal. He took his own life just as Gill did.
In terms of a serial killer -though police have not officially classified it as such - in 1984, a stalker who was labeled the Montreal Boys Slasher killed two boys and possibly is connected to two other grisly deaths. He remains at large.
As you can tell we do have our own demons that have come through the city.
It's interesting to observe how Canadians react to heinous crimes. The perception is that when it happens in America it's the norm. When it happens in Canada we act as if it's the first time we ever see this on our soil. Canada has witnessed shooting and knife sprees in its schools. It has seen brutal school slayings. We've had high profile race killings (such as Native Indians) and famous mob ones (the Donnelly's). We've witnessed the horrible terrorist murder of politician Pierre Laporte committed by the Front de Liberation de Quebec (FLQ) in 1970 during the October Crisis. His killers remain heroes to some Quebec hard core nationalists. And mercy killings as documented by the Robert Latimer case.
Yet, we can't seem to remember.
The reality is that Canada has its own seedy list and legacy of killers- spree, serial or otherwise. In a larger context, Canadians seem to be less willing to accept this reality. Who knows? Maybe it's a defense mechanism. Canadians already exhibit an aloof outlook in international affairs so why not crime?
Many Canadians would be surprised to read in one sitting how many serial killers and infamous murderers have littered this country. So I complied one at end of this piece. I'm not a psychologist nor am I sociologist so don't ask me to put this in any criminalogical terms or to rationalize any of this. My point is that relative to public perception, we have had many notorious killers. More than we care to acknowledge.
What intrigues me, as I have mentioned earlier, is how quickly we forget. Canadians in general have a short memory when it comes to history so it's not surprising we do not realize the extent of our own bloody past. Our insular attitudes on the subject is further deepened by the fact that Canada is essentially a safe and peaceful country.
In America, a killer's fame seems to stick around for a while - thanks in part to sensationalist media techniques. When we think serial killer it conjures up images of movies like 'Natural Born Killers'. In the Canadian public imagination the names of American serial killers like Jeffrey Dahmer and Richard Ramirez trump many of our own. There are exceptions. For example, Paul Bernardo, Karla Homolka (who presently walks the streets of Montreal a free woman these days) and Clifford Olson.
Following is a list of Canadian spree and serial killers (solved or unsolved. Some of the names are the file names given by local police, media or the public in which the murders took place) in alphabetical order. Nor is this list, which includes 42 names, exhaustive.
Archambault Serge, Boden Wayne Clifford, BC Prostitute Killer, Canada Highway Murders, Canada Prostitute Murders, Charalambous Josephakis, Crawford John Martin. Edmonton Prostitute Killer, Evans Wesley Gareth. Fabrikant Valery, Ferrier Martin, Gill Kimveer,Green River Killer, Jordan Gilbert Paul, Krueger David Michael, Legere Allan Joseph (Madman of Miramichi), Lepine Marc, London Ontario Killer, Lortie Denis, McGray Michael Wayne, Montreal Boys Slasher, Montreal Gay Ripper,Moore Douglas Daniel, Mysterious Alberta Serial Killer, Nelson Earle Leonard. Niedermier Barry Thomas, Nugent Braeden Benjamin, NW Territories Headhunter, Olson Clifford Robert, Ontario´s Lovers Lane Killer, Pickton Robert William, Snow David Alexander, Toronto Hospital For Sick Children Murders, Toronto Prostitute Executioner,Toronto Prostitute Killer, Toronto Rape Slayer,Toronto Subway Killer, West Ronald Glenn, Williams Henry Robert, Winters Noel Michael, Wood Daniel William,Yeo Jonathan.
Sources: www.crimelibrary.com
www.crimezzz.net
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