Mr. Speaker, I wish to thank the good people of Port Moody—Coquitlam for electing me as one of the 103 women in this House.
This pandemic has been hard on women, and the increased burden of unpaid work has caused too many to leave the workforce to take on child care and home-schooling. Their careers have been set back as they stepped forward for their families, and the women working the front lines of the care economy, many of whom are racialized and new immigrants, have faced long hours and increased incidents of abuse. They have been hailed as heroes but paid inadequate wages.
That is wrong. Their work is invaluable. This devaluation exists because of broader systems of oppression. As we recover from this pandemic, we must take the opportunity to remove barriers for women and diverse genders and finally achieve gender equality.