Interim Conservative Party Leader Rona Ambrose said she is honoured to have been elected to her new leadership position by her caucus, particularly since it is comprised primarily of men.
“I’m really proud to have been elected by my caucus of mostly men. I have a really good team around me. They are very supportive,” Ambrose said during a meeting with Famous 5 Ottawa at the Women are Persons! Monument on Parliament Hill on International Women’s Day March 8, 2016.
Ambrose also said she anticipates at least two women will throw their hats into the ring to be leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, but confirmed she will not be among them because she promised not to run when she accepted the interim post.
Ambrose, who represents the Edmonton riding of Sturgeon River, did not confirm who the female contenders might be, but media reports have speculated that Conservative MPs Lisa Raitt, Michelle Rempel and Kellie Leitch are considering.
Ambrose took the opportunity to praise Famous Five for the important work its volunteers do advocating on behalf of women as nation builders and especially encouraging young women to take on leadership roles.
She pointed to the great all-party effort it took 15 years ago by the Famous Five to get the Women are Persons! Monument placed on Parliament Hill as an example of how such hard work pays off.
As former minister of public works responsible for Hill monuments, Ambrose said she is well aware of how arduous it is to get approval for new statues on the Parliamentary precinct.
Famous 5 Ottawa Chair Isabel Metcalfe took the opportunity to tell Ambrose about the Famous Five’s involvement in the Campaign for Gender Equality in the Senate, its support for Ottawa Liberal MP Mauril Bélanger’s bill to make the lyrics to O Canada gender neutral, the Norton Rose Fulbright Mentorship Program for young women and outreach the organization does with local schools.
“We were honoured to have the opportunity to meet with Ms. Ambrose and encourage her in the nation building role she is carrying out as interim leader of the Conservative Party of Canada,” said Metcalfe.
The larger than life Women are Persons! bronze statue is a tribute to the original five visionary Alberta women on the victory of the 1929 “Persons Case.” The court legally declared women as persons under the British North America Act and made them eligible for appointment to the Senate of Canada, a milestone in Canadian legal and constitutional history.
