Hello, I’m Laurel Broten, Minister Responsible for Women’s Issues.

October is Women’s History Month – a time when we recognize the contributions that women have made to life in Ontario.

This year, we are celebrating Ontario’s leading women athletes in winter sports.

With the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics just around the corner there’s no better time to find out more about their stories.

Ontario has a long history of women competing in winter sports, the first women’s hockey game was more than a hundred years ago.

Many Ontario women, such as Frances Dafoe, Cassie Campbell-Pascall and Karen Blachford have gone on to become world champions.

Not only did these women boost the profile of Ontario and Canada on the world stage, they paved the way for future generations of women and girls in sports.

Check out our Women’s History Month website where you’ll learn more about them and many other accomplished women winter athletes, past and present.

To the athletes of the past, I say thank you for leading the way.

To today’s female athletes, on behalf of all of us in Ontario, I say congratulations on your achievements and thank you for showing young girls what can be accomplished with skill, hard work and a dream.