Mr. Speaker, in the words of Rosemary Brown, “Until all of us have made it, none of us have made it”.
While women represent just over 50% of the Canadian population, we occupy just 25% of the seats in this House.
I am proud that the NDP makes equity a priority. We know that informed, engaged and active women can be successful in affecting real change.
We saw it this week in the abolition of the federal sales tax on feminine hygiene products. Without the female MPs on all sides of this House who understood the experiences of Canadian women, and an amazing constituent community, I believe this victory would not have been possible. However, our work is not yet done.
As the satiric online journal The Beaverton points out, this victory leaves 3,424 areas of gender inequality remaining in Canada.
I look forward to the 42nd Parliament, where we have the opportunity to elect more women to represent this country's vast and magnificent diversity.
Just watch what we can do then.