Hon. Rosemary Moodie: Honourable senators, I rise today in recognition of Black History Month. In Nova Scotia, it is also known as African Heritage Month. I ask you to join me in celebrating all Black Canadians.

For the past two challenging years, Black Canadians have kept our communities safe and healthy through hard work and caring for each other. Today, I recognize and thank our doctors, nurses, personal support workers, teachers and all front-line workers.

The Black Scientists’ Task Force on Vaccine Equity is a Black-Canadian-run project created to share information about COVID-19 with Black Canadians and to address concerns about COVID-19-related issues. It is just one of the great initiatives that has grown in the past two years.

I was also proud to visit Taibu Community Health Centre last fall to see the incredible work that they have done in Toronto’s Black community, including vaccinating thousands of people within their facilities, while working to increase awareness and health education.

Examples like these demonstrate the extraordinary resilience and determination of Black Canadians, who will always rise to the challenge to support and build our systems and institutions every day.

Today and every day, we celebrate the results of both our advocacy and the support of our allies. Black youth are thriving and having an impact as their voices are given space to flourish: an ever-growing list of Black trailblazers in the sciences, technologies, engineering and math; a reinvigoration of Black entrepreneurship and businesses that is gradually increasing generational wealth creation in African-Canadian communities; and more Black voices in Parliament, championing the needs of all communities.

We in the Senate must look to the work that lies ahead as we tackle issues in child care, housing, economic growth, health care and combatting climate change, all with a more inclusive, intersectional and equity-seeking lens.

Traditionally, we take this month to reflect on our past. This February, and forever, we commit to bringing our voices forward in every policy, every decision and in every debate. We stand determined as we build our future together. Black history is every day, every month and every year. It speaks to who we are as a people, to our story and to our culture.

Thank you, meegwetch.