Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. Mr. Speaker, for the mainstream male operators, it might seem quite normal to sit around the table where all the players are men. They might not even notice that something is amiss when this is happening. But I'm telling you this is not acceptable in the year 2004. I must say over and over again that we must have a government that reflects the face it serves. We expect the Premier and Cabinet to take intentional and deliberate actions to make sure this happens: that our decision-making body has real representation from the other gender and all of our different regions and socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds.

I realize it has only been four months in the life of this government, but so far the ratio of all senior government and board appointments has been 100 percent male to zero percent female. This has to improve, Mr. Speaker, and the Premier and every Cabinet Minister sitting on that side has a collective responsibility to make it happen.

I want to put the Premier and Cabinet Ministers on further notice that I expect to see a marked improvement by the

time we meet again in this House in May and June. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

----Applause