Having come to shake up the Quebec political sphere, the announced departure of Liberal MP Marwah Rizqy was, however, unfortunately nothing unpredictable. No one was surprised to hear her concede that the overloaded schedule of a more than full-time politician, keeping her part-time in a city other than that of her two very young children, combined “more often than not in the imperfect.” This immutability of the inexplicable archaism of the National Assembly has lasted long enough.
Marwah Rizqy’s personal circumstances are special, the elected official being married to her fellow Liberal MP Gregory Kelley. Reconciling political and family life is thus doubly difficult, if not, in their case, impossible. Several other young parents, in Quebec and in Ottawa, however, must have recognized themselves in this heartbreaking confession from Ms.me Rizqy who, as passionate as she was about her political career, came to the conclusion that the sacrifices imposed on her family were simply too great.
The very nature of the elected office imposes a role from which deputies never abandon themselves, neither in the streets of a capital nor in those of their constituency. Parliamentary work also requires living in two cities, or even two regions or two provinces, at the same time. Those who run for office obviously do so with full knowledge of the facts. But if our parliaments want to bring together a minimum of diversity, both professional and generational, reflecting the diversity of society, they can no longer do without certain accommodations.
The obstacles to political engagement are already numerous, in this era of toxicity of public debate, virtual intimidation and threats that translate into reality. Should we recall that Marwah Rizqy had to file a complaint with the police for criminal harassment and harassing communications in the middle of the electoral campaign two years ago, eight months pregnant with her first boy? Not only must elected officials accept being deprived of time with their loved ones, but they must also bear the burden of seeing them fear for their safety or of being themselves targeted by bullying Internet users. Many deplored it, in both parliaments.
If it is hopeless to hope to clean up the outlets of gall that social networks have become, facilitating work-family balance, on the other hand, is certainly not out of reach. At most, we finally need a little political good will.
No less than 83% of Quebec politicians surveyed by former journalist Jocelyne Richer for her book The sex of power confided that the issue of work-family balance was still today “a major obstacle to political diversity”.
While women have invested the corridors of power and achieved near parity in the National Assembly, parliamentary rules have remained those of an outdated era. The progressivism of Quebec, at the forefront with its family policy, its parental leave and its network of childcare services, has still not passed through the doors of its parliament.
The National Assembly still pretended to have modernized. But the elected officials have in fact only been freed from the threat of being penalized if they are absent from the Blue Room to take care of a new child or a person for whom they are caregivers. The acceptable period of absence is not defined, leaving MPs to have the audacity to be the first to take advantage of more generous leave. In Ottawa, young parents can be absent for up to a year following the arrival of a baby and four weeks before the birth, for mothers.
A daycare center has now been open for a year at the National Assembly, but it still has barely ten places, while that of the federal parliament has welcomed nearly 40 toddlers for more than 30 years.
And while work-family balance does not miraculously resolve itself as soon as the children are a little older, the National Assembly still does not allow electronic voting outside the Blue Room. Employers everywhere else have adapted to hybrid work during the pandemic, including in the House of Commons, but in the Quebec parliament, the anachronism remains.
There is no justification, in the three cases above, for not putting aside partisanship in order to follow in the footsteps of elected officials in Ottawa. Political life will always impose a demanding lifestyle choice. It is high time to stop weighing it down.
If Marwah Rizqy, one of the elected representatives promised to a brilliant political career, had to bow out prematurely, this shows the size of the challenge that the task of convincing others who would have , until Tuesday, dreamed of joining her.