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International Women's Day 2020 - March 8th

International Women
International Women's Day 2020 Anita Anand | Pam Menegakis

As Member of Parliament for Oakville and on behalf of the Government of Canada, I’d like to wish everyone a happy International Women’s Day.

Commemorative dates like International Women’s Day provide us with an opportunity to recognize and celebrate the vast achievements of women in all sectors while reflecting on how to accelerate women’s equality globally and at home in Canada.

On October 21st, 2019, Canadians elected more women to the House of Commons than ever before. Women account for just over half of the Canadian population but still only comprise 29% of federally elected representatives. We can and must do better. We can start that work together by supporting each other as women and by talking our friends up so that more of the women and girls around us run for office one day. We need more women in the House of Commons, but also everywhere from student unions, to running community projects, to city council.

As Malala Yousafzai wisely said, “we cannot all succeed when half of us are held back.” I am proud to be a part of Prime Minister Trudeau’s Government. We have taken Malala’s words to heart with some big changes like instituting a gender balanced cabinet, launching a campaign to encourage more women and girls to pursue careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics), and passing historic pay equity legislation to ensure equal pay for work of equal value, amongst many other initiatives. We still have a lot of work ahead of us in creating an equitable society where women and girls are empowered and can achieve their full potential.

We still have a lot of work ahead of us. We must work together to create an equitable society where women have the tools that they need to surmount the obstacles that are still faced in today’s society. Let us continue to empower women and girls so that they may reach their full potential.