MPs pass parental leave policy

For the first time ever, members of Parliament will have the right to take paid parental leave from their jobs on Parliament Hill when they adopt or give birth.

The House of Commons unanimously agreed to new rules that will allow new parents who are serving as MPs to take up to 12 months of parental leave. The rules give MPs who are expecting babies the right to take up to four weeks off as leave at the ends of pregnancies as well.

Until now, MPs who missed more than 21 days of sitting time for a reason other than illness or official business have been docked $120 a day. (Their $178,900 base salaries work out to $490 a day.)

Democratic Institutions Minister Karina Gould, who was the first cabinet minister to give birth while in office, calls the move a historic change.

“I think it’s long overdue, but I wholeheartedly welcome it,” the Liberal MP for Burlington, Ont., said. “It sends the signal that it’s acceptable and legitimate to take some time away from Ottawa after you’ve given birth or adopted a child.”

Gould said many of her constituents were “gobsmacked” to find out she didn’t have the option to take formal maternity leave after she gave birth to her baby boy, Oliver, in March 2018.

She did take a few weeks off, which she credits to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for being supportive, but was back in the House of Commons a few weeks later, with Oliver in tow. But she said the lack of a formal leave policy has left new parents in Parliament feeling pressure to go back to work right away.

This policy change is the latest effort by the House of Commons to try to make the Hill more familyfriendly.

Child-care services are available to members during sittings, including when the House has deliberations that go late or, as has happened a few times in the last year, when there is an all-night voting marathon.

Also, when the Commons moved into temporary quarters while Centre Block undergoes years of renovations, the new facility in West Block came with a family room equipped with a crib, change table and rocking chair.

Gould said these are welcome changes, but notes there is still work to do to make being an MP with a newborn easier.

One thing that could make a big difference is allowing MPs to vote by proxy if they are unable to be in Ottawa for an important vote due to childbirth or major illness.