Mr. Speaker, I would like to acknowledge the unceded, unsurrendered homeland of the Anishinabe Algonquin nation on which we stand.
Today is the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women. We remember the victims of the December 6, 1989, attack at École Polytechnique. This attack was a vile, anti-feminist act, and it was not an isolated one. This attack was a direct consequence of the rampant misogyny in our society. Violence against women has not been eradicated in our communities.
Misogyny continues to exist today and has seen a resurgence as of late. As with racism or homophobia, we must name it so we can end it. There can be no place for gender-based hatred in our society.
This day commemorates a living history of ongoing violence against women and girls and members of the LGBTQIA2+ community, particularly those who also face other forms of discrimination for their race, religion or economic status. Whether it is in the echoes of a fight from the apartment upstairs, in hateful comments on Facebook or Twitter or in the backlog of case files of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls, we must not forget that there is still so much violence and marginalization facing women across the country.
We must work to educate society about consent and our responsibility to call out violence where we see it, to intervene and to help prevent instances of abuse. We must also support women who are seeking to end the violence they face. We must believe them.
Yesterday, CBC/Radio-Canada reported that New Brunswick had the highest number of domestic murder-suicides of all Canadian provinces. Seventy percent of these homicides are committed in rural communities. These tragic deaths prove that there is a glaring lack of essential services to support women who are facing all kinds of violence.
By the same token, we need to support women who continue to push boundaries and break through the glass ceilings in their own worlds, despite the challenges and sometimes the dangers that this brings.
Today I remember the 14 women cut down in the massacre at École Polytechnique, and today I commit to women across Canada, and indeed across the world, that I believe them and support them. There is no room for misogyny in Canada.
I remember.
[Member spoke in Wolastoqiyik]