Merci, monsieur le President. [Translation] This Sunday is the International Day for Women. [End of translation] The Minister responsible for the Status of Women spoke to the theme selected by the Status of Women Canada for this year, Because of You, recognizing the socio-economic, cultural, and political achievements of women and girls.

There are other themes for International Women's Day. First, the United Nations Women's theme for this year is: I am Generation Equality: Realizing Women's Rights. Another, the global campaign theme, is: Each for Equal. This theme highlights that we are all part of a collective whole, and we can each, individually, have an impact on our society and on the goal of achieving equality.

Mr. Speaker, if we are all Each for Equal, we will raise Generation Equality.

My mother was the voice saying, "You can go and achieve the things that I did not have the opportunities to achieve," but without my father's quiet but calm and ever-present support, it would have been much harder. My legal career has been inspired and supported for over a decade by strong feminists. Many of those feminists were men. They encouraged me to start in a career, in a male-dominated area of practice. They encouraged me to take on leadership roles at tables that were still largely filled by men, and they encouraged me to make space for a family life without making me feel that this made me any less of a lawyer.

As the last election drew near, I asked at home, "Maybe this won't be good for our family? Maybe I should be waiting until the kids are older?" My spouse, who happens to be male, would have none of it. "You want to do this, and so we will make it happen."

Mr. Speaker, we each need to support equality. We all need to be feminists. This will help advance the equality of all, and this, to me, is the strength of the Each for Equal campaign. Through that, I commit to raising Generation Equality. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.