Mr. Speaker, I pay tribute to Marthe Asselin Vaillancourt of Jonquière, Quebec, one of the recipients of the 1995 Governor General's award in commemoration of the Persons case.
A long-time educator, researcher and grassroots activist, Marthe Asselin Vaillancourt has never missed an opportunity to improve the status of women.
Over the years, she has spoken out regularly on sexual assault, pornography, employment equity and family violence.
Within her community, she was the initiator of and the driving force behind the establishment of a shelter for women and the development, in cooperation with the Quebec provincial police, of a pilot project to oppose violence against women. This project gave birth to the Centre d'aide aux victimes d'actes criminels de Chicoutimi, which she currently heads.
She has served as national co-chair of the Canadian Panel on violence against women, which conducted the first national study in the world on this serious social problem.