Martin Luther King Jr. once said that "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."

If this is true, then we must consider no matter which man has been able to withstand, endure and overcome, challenges and controversy in its resplendent forms, our partners in humility have always been pervasive like the shadow by our side, auxiliary to our victories yet partaking in none. It is this partner that has most likely and willingly endured far more throughout the course of history.

I believe that if we were to measure a man, whether it be at his highest or lowest points in life, and raise him on a podium to be the sole heir of an imaginary throne that rules, dictates and governs the earth we live in, it still would not be equivalent to the strength of a woman who withstood far more pain, a thousand more lashes, and even the stones we men threw to suppress her, forever enslaving her under the decrees of man.

After all was it not mother earth that has withstood the ultimate measure of time?

Was it not our mother tongue that was passed on from one generation to another?

Has it not been women who have been burdened by the weight of which she's carried in her womb?

It is these great characteristics that make me wonder why women absorb more insults, abuse, pain, suffering, loneliness, neglect, poverty, exploitation, abandonment, sexual violence and discrimination. The list is beyond comprehension and yet these powerful souls whom we men have been blessed with as our partners from the beginning of time, walking with grace and humility, honoring the man she has served whether it be out of obligation, duty or love, respecting his authority without defiance, and valuing him even when he has nothing to offer her other than the few moments in which he himself is seeking satisfaction.

I am saddened by the way women are treated, manipulated, disgraced and dishonoured. I am angry that many live in fear and at times in silence even when they have been violated. I am infuriated that even in 2017 there are still women who are oppressed even though they have proven to be more consistent and persistent in whatever they set their hearts out to achieve.
I am appalled that there are some of my fellow brethren who at times disgracefully assume that a woman requires the presence of man in sustaining her livelihood. It has been proven that a woman can sustain herself with the basics of necessity while many men seem to be gluttonous hoards.

It is with these notions that I salute our Honorable Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, in his benevolent decision to not only equally diversify the Members of Parliament by gender, but to go even further by announcing:

"A Canadian woman will be featured on the very first of the next series of bills expected in 2018."

It is actions such as this that bestow upon women their rightful honor, glorifying their integrity, ultimately increasing their worth to the equivalent of priceless.

"Freedom cannot be achieved unless women are emancipated from all forms of oppression."
- Nelson Mandela