Mr. Speaker, those women who came to Ottawa are my heroes.
I am standing here today as a parliamentarian in this wonderful House. We may get caught up in a few partisan battles, but they are nothing compared to the battles that those women face day in and day out. They are in a situation now where their lives are threatened. They look at the situation where in their own society under the Taliban, women were forced to stay at home unable to earn money for their families.
Canada is the number one supporter of the microfinance investment support facility which has enabled women, because mostly women take up these start up businesses, to become a successful part of their community, providing food and shelter for their children. It just melted my heart when I heard that. My understanding is that women are the major uptakers of this program.
Under the brutal Taliban regime, women had no voice in public life. Imagine a world where a woman was unable to stand up and give her opinions, unable to run for public office, unable to own property. This is the regime that they faced under the Taliban.
When these very brave parliamentarians made the trek here to Ottawa it really put into perspective why we are all here and why it is so vital and important that we as Canadian parliamentarians stand up and support our brave men and women who are over there right now, making a difference in women's lives, the rights of women and the rights of children.
I want to thank my colleague for that wonderful question and to let everyone in Canada know that these women are getting the job done for their constituents. I am very proud that Canada has a major part to play in that transformation.