Madam Speaker, as Women's History Month draws to a close, I want to honour an outstanding Canadian trailblazer: Elizabeth Muriel Gregory MacGill, commonly known as Elsie.
In 1927, Elsie became the first woman in Canada to earn an electrical engineering degree from the University of Toronto. Two years later she became the first woman in North America to receive a master's degree in aeronautical engineering. She was the first woman to take the lead in aircraft design, including the design of the Maple Leaf Trainer II and the Hawker Hurricane, a vital fighter aircraft of the Second World War.
As a feminist, she contributed to the historic Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada report in 1970. Elsie grew up surrounded by strong women. Her grandmother, Emma, was a women's rights activist, and her mother, Helen, became British Columbia's first female judge.
From one generation to the next, strong women are building a strong Canada. As Elsie once eloquently said, as soon as we see a need for change, we find a way to make it happen.