Mr. Speaker, this has been an historic week for women's rights, from the women's march against poverty and violence to the commemoration on Parliament Hill of the Persons case and the Famous Five, the whole inspired by notions of equality and justice for all.
The lessons globally and domestically are clear that women's rights must be a priority on our public agenda as a matter of principle and policy, that women's rights are human rights and that there are no rights if they do not include the rights of women. As Nellie McClung and the Famous Five put it, “no nation can rise above its women. The degradation of any woman is a degradation of us all”.
The struggle for human rights, for women's rights, for equality, is the struggle for ourselves. In what we say and, more importantly, in what we do in this case and the cause for equality in general and women's rights in particular, we will be making a statement about ourselves as a people. We will be making a statement about ourselves.