During the lunch hour on Sept. 13, 2006, a 25-year-old man approached Dawson College in Montreal, pulled out a gun and changed the lives of staff and students forever.
Donna Varrica, the college’s communications co-ordinator, was on campus that day. She says the school has learned a lot about crisis planning and workplace mental health since the shooting.
“We had a [crisis] plan in place. But like every plan, it’s not until something happens that all the issues with that plan come to light.” While the plan considered common disasters such as a fire or flooding, there was nothing specific to a shooting.
A key challenge emerged soon after the college was evacuated. In a crisis, staff and students were to gather in an office complex near the downtown campus. But police had cordoned off that building, not knowing whether the incident was part of a larger terrorist attack.
Local businesses helped shelter staff and students that day. And the college later identified a “plan B” meeting place for future crises—nearby Concordia University.
Dawson’s 7,500 students and 1,000 staff members returned following a five-day campus closure. With memories of the incident that claimed one student’s life and resulted in 19 injuries still fresh, the library was set up to offer counselling for those in need. But
this quickly posed another challenge.
“In hindsight, setting it up in the library wasn’t such a good idea,” says Varrica, explaining that nobody wanted to be seen in line, lest they be thought of as “damaged.” The set-up was revised to offer more privacy, and counselling continued until that November. Over time, many were able to heal the mental scars left that day. For others, the recovery has been much harder.
An employee Varrica calls “one of the most competent, efficient, enthusiastic” workers still wells up with emotion whenever she thinks about the shooting. Dawson officials try to shield her from potential reminders, and she takes the day off on the anniversary of the shooting. Varrica stresses that all employers need to be trained to watch for signs of employee mental health issues and to offer supports.
The Dawson community came together to build a campus Peace Garden, commemorated last year, on the fifth anniversary of the shooting.
“It’s become a kind of therapy and catharsis to be involved in this thing that belongs to everybody.”