Madam Speaker, today marks the 50th anniversary of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women. In that time, women in this country have implemented incredible progress towards equality, yet the work is still unfinished.
One gap is in valuing all roles in our communities and in our families. Children and seniors are cared for still mostly by women, taking care of our future and treasuring those who built our country. Those jobs are sacred, yet these roles are underpaid and undervalued. In Canada, women still have an unfair pay gap, and lack of child care means women are left out of the economy and their ability to build for their retirement. This cycle continues. Today, we know that single women seniors are the most impoverished in Canada. Now, during COVID-19, many women are being forced to leave the job market, face more domestic violence, and fear for an increasing and unstable future.
Let us use this year's anniversary to remind us of how far we have come and how far we still have to go.