Have you seen this article about the motion calling for Toronto City Council to support our campaign for Canadian women on bank notes? Councillors may be voting today on the motion, which was introduced by Mary Fragedakis and seconded by Sarah Doucette. Approval of this motion, by the largest city in Canada, would be a wonderful way to increase pressure on the Bank of Canada to finally take action and celebrate at least one woman from Canadian history on our bank notes. Especially since October is Women's History Month in Canada! Many thanks to Mary and Sarah for submitting this motion. With the focus on the Toronto motion today, I wanted to share just a few of the great quotes posted on our petition page by Torontonians: "It's ridiculous that this even requires discussion and petition in the 21st century. It's a national embarrassment for Canada." Hans Rollmann, Toronto "I'm astounded that this has happened! What a travesty ..." Elizabeth Abbott, Toronto "Our nation, (our world!) has evolved with the equal participation of both men and women and it is well past time to recognize the participation of women in our nations history on our currency." Alan MacIsaac, Toronto "Public symbols are powerful indicators of what is important to a nation. The contribution of women to the public good is surely worthy of symbolic representation on the currency that every Canadian looks at thousands of times a year. I suggest the replacement of the 5 women who secured public "personhood" for their sisters with an icebreaker was not an innocous act, but a calculated one to reduce Canada to "traditional" imagery and values. Where is Agnes MacPhail, the first women elected to parliament? How could it be seen as appropriate to replace the Famous Five with an inanimate object? Where are the women who have made huge contributions to the social, political and culture advancement of the country? We can and must do better." Sophia Sperdakos, Toronto "There have been countless great women who have been part of the building of Canada and to ignore them is to step backwards in time, to try to erase us from public consciousness. You insist on having a foreign monarch and yet not one Canadian woman. No wonder girls have low self-esteem. SHAME." Judith Thompson, Toronto "It beggars belief that women can be so grossly omitted from any representation on our bills in 21st century currency." Ishrath Frahana, Toronto "Women need to be represented on the things that represent Canada - and our bank notes are an everyday representation of what Canada is and what it stands for - so let the women be visible (or decide that women should be running the Bank of Canada, if men can't seem to understand the notion of representing diversity)." BJ Danylchuk, Toronto "It is especially saddening to hear that Mr. Carney has allowed women onto the British Bank Notes, but changed ours. If women are equal to men in Canada, they should be equally represented on our currency." Grace Alexander, Toronto "Is it really still a point of debate that pride in those who shaped the country should not be limited to male figures?" Srimonti Karmakar, Toronto "Men, women, children of the many diverse Canadian heritages (native and immigrant) should be celebrated on our currency as a marker to the world of the diversity that is our Canadian strength. We all deserve to see role model images we can identify with reflected in our national culture and national artefacts - especially those we publicly present to the world." Gwyneth Evans, Toronto "It's embarrassing for people in a civilized nation even to be having this conversation. Put women in positions of cultural visibility please." Tamsin Kelsey, Toronto