Madam Speaker, as a kid at Christmas, all I wanted to unwrap was the latest Little House on the Prairie or Nancy Drew book, and as I hit my teens, it was all about Margaret Atwood. Her books informed my feminism, inspired my sense of humour and instilled in me a lifelong love of dystopian fantasy fiction.
Earlier this week, at the start of 16 Days of activism against gender-based violence, I saw her on stage in Hamilton in front of 1,500 rabid fans, and I was reminded of just how powerful a woman's voice can be. This event was for Interval House of Hamilton, which supports women fleeing violence and trains men and boys to avoid hypermasculine misogyny.
I have read them all, but my favourite Margaret Atwood book is the MaddAddam trilogy, where we read, “we must be a beacon of hope, because if you tell people there's nothing they can do, they will do worse than nothing.” Beacons of hope, like Margaret Atwood and Interval House, remind us that we can all do something about gender-based violence.