Mr. Speaker, I rise today to mourn the death and pay tribute to the life of Rosemary Brown.
Rosemary Brown was the first black woman to be elected to a legislature in Canada. Yet that was not the sum total of her legacy. She was an ardent feminist and fighter for gender and racial equality.
Fiercely partisan in her politics as a New Democrat, she was a trailblazer, forcing Canadians to examine their traditional beliefs and prejudices, constantly advocating for justice and human rights locally and internationally.
She was a role model for all of us immigrant women, forcing us to be the best that we could be, challenging us to participate in the social and political life of our new country to change it for the better.
Then there was the warm, funny friend, Rosemary, the mentor.
To look back on a life lived is to examine the mark made by its brief passing flame. Rosemary Brown left a long and impressive mark. She changed Canadian society and, to quote the Vancouver Province 's recent editorial, “She helped build a better world”.