Mr. Speaker, standing today to mark Women's History Month, I am reminded of the lineage of women who have made it possible for me to take this seat here. I think of my Aunt Kim Malcolmson, who has been mixing it up all of her life. She was a pay equity officer in Ontario when I was starting high school. She has been a very good influence on me.
I think also of Rosemary Brown, the first black woman to fill a seat in any legislature in Canada, and her wise words, “We must open the doors and we must see to it they remain open, so that others can pass through”, and we have. Over the last 100 years, we have won the federal right to vote, the right to run for office. Women have won the right to serve in the army. Women's equality is now in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Yet there is so much to do. It is all hands on deck to address the ecological and inequality emergencies that our planet and our country face. Women's rights and social justice are key to global sustainable solutions.
I am inspired by the women who are making history right now. We need the ingenuity, creativity, and social justice commitment that young women bring and are bringing right now to our country and our political life. I am deeply inspired by these strong young women, and I see them making history right now as we speak.
I think of the 338 women who have contributed and been part of the Daughters of the Vote process that Equal Voice imagined. They are going to take their seats in Parliament next March on International Women's Day, future leaders of our country.
I think of Melissa Mollen Dupuis, a young Innu performance artist, a Québécois, one of the co-founders of the Quebec movement of Idle No More. It is very inspiring work.
I think of the Olympic women medalists who really blew the men out of the park and the rest of the country as well. We are so proud of them and their leadership. Again, they are making Canadian history as we speak.
I think of my friend and comrade, Avery Valerio from Nanaimo. She is 19 years old and is talking with young women, millennial feminists, across the province and the country about what this next wave of the women's movement looks like and how they themselves will make their mark on history.
For the rest of my time, I am going to share Avery's words. She writes:
“So how do we belong? How do we make Canada somewhere where half of the population can find a place for themselves? A place free of violence and plentiful of opportunity. How do we heal, how do we move forward? We do it together. We do it through education, through legislation and through conversation. We do it not because it makes for good politics or because it's the flavour of the month. We do it because it's the right thing to do, because it's the responsible thing to do. Because democracies are supposed to be representative of their nations. Because everyone deserves to live a life free of violence. We do it because everyone deserves equal opportunities. Because we cannot wait to do it any longer. It was Emily Murphy who said that there was never a country better adapted to produce a great race of women than this Canada of ours, nor a race of women better adapted to make a great country. And so together it is up to us to move forward, as Canadians it is up to us to continue to work on building a feminist country. It is up to us to build a Canada where everyone belongs.”