Mr. Speaker, I would like to pay tribute to three great Haitian feminists who died in the January 12 earthquake. They were three pioneers in the fight for equality and against violence.
Magalie Marcelin helped Haitian women to be heard, to tell their stories and to carve out their future, and also founded Kay Fanm, a shelter for battered women.
Myriam Merlet was a feminist author and researcher, a revolutionary and a visionary with a very big heart. Thanks to her determination, a Haitian court handed down a guilty verdict to a man who had beaten his wife.
Anne Marie Coriolan fought by their sides in order to change the law to make rape, long used as a political weapon, a punishable crime.
Together with my colleagues from the Bloc Québécois, I commend their courage and their exceptional work. We will remember them.