Mr. Speaker, for Women's History Month, we honour feminist trailblazers who fought hard for social justice and yet gender equality has been blocked by decades of successive Liberal and Conservative failure: no pay equity and no universal child care. Front-line feminist groups struggle to keep their doors open from a lack of core funding.
As New Democrat Rosemary Brown, the first black woman elected to any legislature in Canada, said, “We must open the doors and we must see to it that they remain open, so that others can pass through.” On a truly historic day in Parliament, these doors opened and Daughters of the Vote filled these seats with young women from across the country. Three hundred and thirty-seven women sat in the House on that day, more than had filled Parliament in 150 years of Confederation. I have since witnessed dozens of these young leaders making real change across our country.
Let us make history, let us honour feminists past and let us open the doors for the next wave of women making real change.