I was honoured to be asked to be part of our caucus' shadow cabinet as critic for the status of women and gender equality.

As critic I look forward to working with our leader Tom Mulcair and my colleagues to keep the government accountable and put forward our vision for Canada.

As MP for Churchill and as critic I have already been focusing on the impacts of the federal budget on Canadians. On an almost daily basis we are learning of more and more cuts to vital programs.

We are seeing major cuts to key programs that deal with everything from food safety to the environment.

We are also seeing significant cuts to key programs here in Western Canada. Everything from regional development to agriculture has been affected. It is increasingly obvious that the government is taking Western Canada for granted.

It is also clear that the budget does not address the needs of Northern and aboriginal people in terms of key issues such as health, education and infrastructure.

I look forward to continuing to speak out on the concerns of our region and in my new role speaking out for the need for gender equality in Canada.