As I pointed out at committee before, we over here really believe in the strength of women and the power of women. I really need to see some kind of a change in the wording of the motion, because it suggests that all women are weak, really, or that there's nothing out there at all, or that they're completely incapable and have no abilities, that they're just victims, and that they're weak all across Canadian society.
I do believe in the strength of women. I believe that barriers that are suggested, of course, are barriers to all Canadians, and that we have a responsibility collectively to work and to find some solutions to these problems.
So obviously I don't agree with the motion. Obviously, I believe that my colleagues all have an opportunity to voice their opinions. We have the right to do that, whether it's strictly for political purposes right now or not; we do have the right to do that around the table. But I absolutely insist that we stop labelling women as being weak, that we recognize that there is strength in women and that we are determined. When we want something, we're determined, and we set our minds to it. We can accomplish things, regardless of barriers. We've seen many examples of many women who were able to do great things, even though there were barriers.
I really would like to see some wording in here that acknowledges the strength of women and the ability of women, and acknowledges that there is some progress made here in Canada, and that we do have some really good things going on here--some acknowledgement of women's strength and ability.
I don't think I could support this. If my words are ignored here for political reasons, I would really like to see some sort of a dissenting motion or a dissenting report that at least recognizes what I've been speaking about here.