Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Like the honourable Member for Hay River South, I would also like to pay tribute to the 14 young women who were killed in Montreal on December 6, 1989. I also would like to pay tribute to all the other women.

According to a document called "First Mourn, Then Work for Change", 100 women a year die in domestic violence, Mr. Speaker. As we are approaching that date and we will not be in the House in Session on that date, I want to remember those women and all the other women and their families.

To honour those women, we should be looking at ways to make changes, to make things better for women. We do not have to look very far to see that there is a lot that can be done to improve the lives of women in the Northwest Territories. Women are often prohibited from taking part in work or political activity due to childcare problems. For instance, there is no capital funding program to assist communities that do not have suitable buildings to set up a day care centre, Mr. Speaker.

There is also a lack of flexibility with day care programs which are mainly offered during the day time, but not nights or weekends. Seventy-nine percent of all Northwest Territories single parents are females, Mr. Speaker. Day cares are needed. If they do not have the resources in their communities for high quality day care with flexible hours, they are limited to what they can do outside of work and the home. By creating this situation, we as a collective community are short changing ourselves.

Mr. Speaker, in our Members' Conduct Guidelines, we are bound to do our utmost to promote the equality of all our people, yet women are still earning less than men. The average income for women in the Northwest Territories is 71 percent of what a man earns. Mr. Speaker, that is not equality.

I hope Members of this House will find time to make a real effort to boost services to women. Mr. Speaker, we need to respect women. We need to respect our wives, our mothers, our sisters, our aunts and our friends, if we are to avoid violence against women and if we are to accept them as equals. Mr. Speaker, I will be glad to wear the white ribbon. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.