Mr. Speaker, today I would like to honour the life of Jannit Rabinovitch who passed away on January 26. A respected community leader and advocate for the marginalized in Victoria, Jannit understood that transformative change was needed to address homelessness, drug addiction and prostitution. She believed that for people to live with dignity and pride we must first empower the voiceless.
Jannit brought together women fleeing violence and with them built Sandi Merriman House. She also co-founded PEERS, an organization that works to prevent marginalized women from disappearing into the night as they did in Vancouver.
While Jannit's death is an immense loss to our community of Victoria, her life is an inspiration for those who continue to work to eradicate injustice.