The opposition to City Hall wants a change to be made to the schedule of City Council meetings to promote work-family balance for elected officials. Ensemble Montréal suggests that the recommendation made by the Commission of the Presidency in 2019 be applied and that the assemblies end earlier in the evening.
In a motion that will be debated at the meeting on May 16, Ensemble Montréal proposes that city council meetings begin at 9:30 a.m. on Mondays, instead of 1 p.m., and that they end at 8:30 p.m., instead of 10 p.m. Thus, only the citizens’ question period would be maintained in the evening, at 7 p.m., in order to encourage citizen participation.
The idea is not new. In 2019, the Presidency Commission looked into the matter and recommended such a rearrangement of the schedule. The pandemic, which forced the meetings to be held in virtual mode, relegated the file to oblivion.
Mayor of Montreal-North and young mother, Christine Black believes that with the return of face-to-face meetings, it is time to consider changes. According to her, it is not very useful and not very productive to maintain the late assemblies. “When you finish late like that, you start the week very tired. […] The ability to concentrate has its limits,” she says.
Elected officials should possibly work more on Sundays, rather than Monday mornings, to prepare for city council, but Christine Black believes that this is the lesser evil. “For me, taking an hour or two out of my day on Sunday is still less time-consuming than finishing at 10 p.m. in the evening,” she argues.
More women
Women now outnumber men on Montreal City Council. Since last November’s election, 34 women have held the 65 seats on the municipal council. The new cohort is also younger and among these elected officials, there are several parents of young children.
In 2019, a survey of 103 elected officials revealed that 32% of respondents acted as a caregiver to a member of their entourage. It was then deemed necessary to include caregivers in the work-life balance measures. In addition, 71% of elected officials said they worked three to four evenings a week.
“It’s really in tune with the times to make sure to put winning conditions in place to encourage anyone to get into politics,” said Christine Black. “This is not a motion presented in a partisan frame of mind. It’s really to find solutions so that, together, we arrive at a schedule that is suitable for everyone. »
It is not known for the moment if the elected representatives of Projet Montréal, a majority on the city council, will support the proposal of Ensemble Montréal. “We are going to discuss the opposition motion in the municipal council on May 16. One thing is certain, we consider it important to encourage work-family balance for our elected officials and staff members, ”said the office of Mayor Valérie Plante on Friday.
Remember that over the years, several measures have been put in place to promote work-family balance among elected officials in Montreal. In 2015, the schedule of council meetings was revised for the first time to ensure that meetings end at 10 p.m. instead of 11 p.m. The following year, an 18-week parental leave was introduced. And since 2020, young parents can benefit from the help of an administrative employee for 22 weeks after the arrival of a child.
Christine Black, who had a child in April 2021, agrees that virtual meetings make life easier for young parents, but she does not believe it is appropriate at this time to consider a hybrid work mode for parents. elected officials who would like to take part in the debates remotely. ” Everything in its time. For this time, we will start with the schedule, ”she said.