Mr. Speaker, today I honour the remarkable occasion of the 80th birthday of Doris Anderson, a true feminist, role model and friend.
Doris has always been a shining example of how age has very little to do with the date of one's birth. She has forever been ahead of us in her ideas. As editor of Chatelaine Doris brought previously private issues like domestic violence to the public sphere. In many ways she changed both Canadian journalism and the politics of gender. In so doing she has affected the lives of all Canadians.
As president of the Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women she helped enshrine equal rights for men and women in the Canadian constitution. She is still hard at work as chair of the Ontario Press Council and as a powerful advocate for proportional representation in federal elections.
Tonight there will be a sold out birthday celebration for Doris in Toronto where Governor General Adrienne Clarkson will speak and CBC's Shelagh Rogers will be the emcee. Her birthday present will be the Doris Anderson Ontario Graduate Scholarship in Women's Studies at York University.
Recipients will be given $5,000 from the scholarship fund and $10,000 as a double matching grant from the province of Ontario. Donations are still being accepted and additional money raised will go to the Doris Anderson Bursary Fund for $15,000 scholarships for out of province students and for research.
I am pleased to congratulate Doris on her continuing contributions and wish her the very best as she turns 80. She continues to teach us all so much.