 Mr. Speaker, I'm honored this evening to speak on this motion and to give it my own wavering support. But before delving into it, Mr. Speaker, I'm obliged to congratulate the member for VF or South on his appointment as Deputy Speaker to this Honorable Chamber, this election. His election sorry as Deputy Speaker to this Honorable Chamber. Also, Mr. Speaker, permit me this opportunity to sincerely express my best wishes and speedy recovery to the member for Babuno, who is absent here today. As a woman, Mr. Speaker, sitting to my right in cabinet, she has been one of my most sincere motivators as I undertake, notwithstanding my experience, the task which has been given to me by the people of Castries North. Mutually, we support each other and I wish her speed recovery. But, Mr. Speaker, while it is commendable that we are here today historically given consideration to the establishment of a women's parliament caucus, the women's parliamentary caucus of St. Lucia, I think this milestone is reflective of the contribution of women here in St. Lucia, not only within the parliament, but it mirrors what happens out in our community. Mr. Speaker, as I speak, I reflect on my mother who almost single-handedly raised my siblings and myself, and my sister, 14 years older than me, who also doubled up as mother to more or less mold and shape and guide myself, my brother and my sister on the way forward. I remember, Mr. Speaker, and I reflect on the teachers who have punctuated my life, who have made a contribution to who I am, most of them in the foundation of my education, not in the secondary stage, not in the tertiary, in the foundation of my education. A lady who I recall on St. Louis Street by the name of Miss Mimi, Carmen René, Florence Francis, Anelia Mason herself, my older sister, who taught me at the Methodist School. But as life would go on, Mr. Speaker, throughout my life I found comfort, warmth and guidance in the many women who touched me, whether mother, whether sister, whether friend, whether associate. You name it, Mr. Speaker, acquaintance, strangers, visitors, generally friends, Mr. Speaker. They impacted on my life and certainly contributing to who I am today. But as I moved on, Mr. Speaker, and delved into the politics, I remember the first peers who I encountered, Mrs. Aldiff Isaac, who more or less at age 28 when I became a minister held my hands and made me a strong minister in the Ministry of Youth Development, Community Development, Youth Sports, Local Government and Women's Affairs. Mrs. Isaac, in the third week of my Assumption of Office, came bolting into my office and said, Minister, you cannot continue this week. You cannot run a clinic every day of the week. You need to find the day to sit at your desk, consult with your Permanent Secretary and let us plan the way forward. And that was what took me in the direction that I went. She made sure that I bought myself organized as a young parliamentarian because, of course, in those days at 28, just coming out of the youth organization and getting into government full of exuberance and ready to turn the world around inside out upside down, I felt that as many people I can see on a daily basis will make me achieve the things that I needed to achieve. So I remember Aldiff Isaac was still alive at this time, a very, very outstanding sportswoman, netballer and sports administrator, outstanding Permanent Secretary who served her country well with dignity and pride. And alongside her is the first women's affairs officer, Marcio Lesmo, who served as women's affairs officer. And together we championed the cause of women as minister responsible for women's affairs and herself as the officer to transform that of the office into a desk and eventually within five years to establish a full department of women's affairs. Now it is called gender, gender phase. And I've never stopped actually colleague. I've never stopped championing the cause of women's affairs. And then Mr. Speaker and what I'm those persons who I'm reflecting on Mr. Speaker are just punctuation marks along my journey. There are many more as I said, many more. And in Parliament Mr. Speaker, probably the most challenging period in my political career. When I was called upon to take over the leadership, the mantle of leadership there in this country, probably the most challenging period, some of the darkest moments, a few good times, some successes and occasions when I felt that should I continue. During the period of 2006 and 2011 formidable Senator Charlotte Tessa Mangal who's in the Parliament today, who stood by me, who stood by me Mr. Speaker and gave me that support, that encouragement. And when called upon, not only did she serve as a junior minister in the Prime Minister's office, but when we needed a minister responsible for commerce, she accepted it without reservation. I want to commend her and to recognize her in the Parliament. But the narrative continued Mr. Speaker throughout the years and I'm proud today to state that in the current portfolio that I hold, the Permanent Secretary is a female, is a woman, that is Anita Joseph. The Deputy Permanent Secretary is also a woman, Lauren Matthew, and the first female chief engineer in the person of Renata Fulgen Maki, all women who are driving purposefully the work of the Department of Infrastructure. In my constituency office, manager of the office, assistant, social officer etc etc, all are women. But also Mr. Speaker, and I left it for last, one of the women in my life who has been there in good time, in bad time, in trouble sometimes, in all kinds of times, is my wife. She has stood with me throughout those years, given me support on my journey through and into politics. So I've said all of this Mr. Speaker, in support of the resolution which we have before us. And it is one which I believe Mr. Speaker will not only consolidate the energy of women, not only one that will give strength to women in Parliament and in politics, because after all, while women don't dominate the Parliament, women are the dominant factor for those of us men who find ourselves in Parliament. They are the ones who we can depend on. They are the ones who drive and motivate everyone else. They are the ones who pull the men behind them. And they are the ones to whom the men gravitate, because they are the ones with the spirit necessary in the politics of this country and throughout the world. So their presence may not be here in the numbers that will satisfy us, but their presence are felt in the communities as they are the ones who celebrate, who motivate, who provide the energy, who do the preparations, whether it is food or decoration, or whatever the case may be, those are the women who put us here in the Parliament and we must recognise them. And therefore beyond this resolution here tonight, Mr. Speaker, I believe the onus is on us as male parliamentarians, as male parliamentarians, to give undivided support to the establishment of the Women's Parliamentary Caucus of St. Lucia. We should not just stand here today and support it and believe it, we have accomplished our task. Our task is beyond that because with the support of the women we can stand up, the women are the brave ones, the women are the ones who are prepared to go out upfront and deal with situations while the men just follow. And so Mr. Speaker, I would like tonight to express my unwavering support to the initiative which has been brought before us in the form of a motion to establish the Women's Parliamentary Caucus of St. Lucia and as a consequence wish to express my sincere best wishes, congratulations and my support in your endeavours. I thank you.