Thank you, Michelle.
I think this is something that I often breeze over, because it is such an integral part of the culture that I come from. In Anishinabe culture, men and women are equal but satisfy these roles in different ways. Without a partner who was at home supporting me in going out, making these changes and having this career, I certainly would not be able to take the time away from family to attend the things that I do attend. It's remembering that starting place of balance in our communities.
Curve Lake elected the first female chief in all of Canada in 1958 with Elsie Knott, and that's the community I come from, a community that empowers women and supports women. The men in our community consistently advocate for and support women in leadership and women in all roles. We opened the first child care facility in a first nation in Canada many years ago. My aunt was a big part of that. She is a role model of mine, and it allowed women in our community to start to have jobs in the community and to have somewhere safe to leave their children during the day in order to be able to go out and participate and have that independent economic opportunity. It's allowed our community to support many women going through this.
I think that's a really integral part, having a group of men, having men in our communities and in Canada know that supporting women is the way we're going to achieve better things, and building policies around that is going to be very important.
Thank you, Michelle.