Mothers in life, city councilors: two roles that are still difficult to reconcile despite the growing number of women on the municipal political scene. The Network of Young Municipal Mothers (RJMAM) is calling on the Quebec government to reform the law to guarantee better family and professional balance for elected officials.
Elected officials who adopt or give birth have the right to be absent for a maximum of 18 weeks, the legacy of a law passed in 1979 – and little adapted, 45 years later, to the increasingly feminine reality. municipal councils.
“I think our laws are outdated and are ready to be modernized,” explains the founder of this barely born Network, Sherbrooke councilor Laure Letarte-Lavoie. 37 weeks pregnant, she is not yet a “mother with a baby in her arms” even if it can now, according to her doctors, happen “at any time”.
At 32, full of energy despite the last trimester of her pregnancy, she fears that the imperatives of her role as an elected official are being fulfilled to the detriment of her family life. “I have my ideal scenario if everything goes well: if my baby is well, if I am well, if my health is well after giving birth. If things don’t go well, however, my plan won’t work anymore. It’s certainly anxiety-inducing: I have no control over what will happen, and in addition to not having control, I have no conditions either. The end of the 18 weeks will come quickly! »
Four proposals
Tuesday morning, the nine members of the network, selected based on the founder’s contacts, presented to the Minister of Municipal Affairs, Andrée Laforest, four proposals to help with the work-family balance of elected officials.
Their main request: to benefit from the parental insurance plan in the same way as other workers. The network’s three other proposals aim above all to make this prolonged absence possible without compromising the duty of representativeness of elected officials.
The RJMAM is asking for the right to attend council sessions remotely “as was done during the pandemic”, underlines Laure Letarte-Lavoie. It also proposes the power to delegate the vote of elected officials who are on maternity leave to another member of the municipal council during their absence. Since 2020, Ontario law has authorized the delegation of voting and leaves each municipality to determine the terms.
Finally, the network also suggests providing administrative support to a counselor who has become a mother in order to follow up on her files with citizens.
“What we are proposing is that there be a national fund that makes it possible to hire a resource during the absence of an elected official,” specifies the Sherbrooke councilor. This support would ensure that people are not left in limbo while their representative is on leave. »
Setting up such a fund would come at no cost, calculates Laure Letarte-Lavoie. “If we really have a real RQAP leave with benefits paid by the RQAP, the cities would no longer have to pay our salary and this money could go into the fund without the latter imposing an additional cost. »
A global discussion
In recent years, maternity leave granted to female politicians has made headlines around the world. Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern broke new ground in 2018 by becoming the first head of government to take six weeks of leave after giving birth while in office.
The former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto, did not have this respite: after her cesarean delivery in 1990, she quickly returned to work.
In Canada, Minister Karina Gould, the first member of the federal cabinet to give birth while in office, took several months of leave after the birth of her child in 2018 despite the absence of official policies on the matter. The following year, the House of Commons unanimously approved the granting of a maximum of 12 months of leave to MPs who become parents.
In 2019, the United Kingdom also implemented a one-year pilot project to allow the delegation of the vote of an MP who is on maternity leave. The measure responded to outrage over the lack of flexibility in the law, which forced a Labor MP to go to the House of Commons to speak on Brexit despite her advanced pregnancy. Tulip Suddiq had to delay the delivery of her son by two days to attend the vote.
In Quebec, councilor and leader of the Transition Quebec party, Jackie Smith, gave birth to her second child during her mandate. Now a member of the RJMAM, she had requested accommodations to ensure her role as mother and elected official — and received a refusal.
According to numerous studies, the absence of more lenient guidelines for mothers who sit on municipal councils represents a barrier for women, and particularly for young people, who are hesitant to enter politics.
In the 2021 municipal elections, women represented 51% of the 700 elected officials aged 18 to 34.
“There must be measures that allow everyone to feel good and comfortable making their choice, without guilt,” concludes Laure Letarte-Lavoie. Because it’s not supposed to be negative, becoming a parent, and we should be able to become one while being an elected official. »