CLEAR PARENTAL LEAVE POLICIES FOR ELECTED OFFICIALS OVERDUE

All three levels of government need to work on regulations, Michelle Mungall writes.

Having babies isn't anything new. Neither are parents in the paid labour force. After a century of Canadian laws protecting people's jobs while on maternity and parental leaves, and more than 50 years of maternity leave pay benefits, you might even think that the issue of accommodating new parents in the workplace has been taken care of. But, as it turns out, that's not the case, including for elected officials.

Senior municipal staff in B.C. are starting to talk about this among themselves because more people elected to municipal office are giving birth, but those who have traditionally held those offices — men and some women — are not sure what to do about it. Just ask Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim.

He had to come to terms with this when he denied new mom and park board commissioner Laura Christensen's request to virtually participate in an important meeting. He created a discriminatory work environment, according to the municipal integrity commissioner and new parents everywhere.

Sim shouldn't be let off the hook. He clearly needs some training, but this is bigger than just one mayor. Few elected officials have taken the time to consider maternity and parental supports in their own workplace.

The few who did take the time were typically elected women having babies. It started more than 40 years ago with individual representatives quietly approaching mayors, party leaders, premiers and prime ministers to request a maternity leave from work. For decades, the results were inconsistent. And when Maja Tait was taking maternity leave as the mayor for Sooke in 2016, she lost her seat on the Capital Regional District because maternity leave wasn't considered a legitimate absence. So along came the big pushes, right in the public eye on legislative floors or convention halls like that of the 2016 Union of B.C. Municipalities.

There, delegates debated a motion to apply the country's employment rules on maternity and parental leave to elected municipal officials. Opponents stated that councillors must serve their constituents first, and that such leaves — unlike leaves for illness and medical treatments — were incompatible with community service. Thankfully, the majority did not agree. Some were naturally downright offended at the suggestion that one's children are less important than constituents or that people, mostly women in their child-bearing years, shouldn't run for office if they also want a family.

Importantly, the UBCM resolution called on the provincial government to include parental accommodations in its laws that define municipal councils. Eight years later, B.C. has yet to step up in the same way Ontario and Nova Scotia have.

This impacted my friend, Jen Comer, in 2021. At 39.5 weeks pregnant, she was debating the issue with fellow directors of the Regional District of Central Kootenay. As they went around the table, it was clear there was a lot to consider with the unique workplace of elected office. It was also clear no decision would be made by the end of the meeting and days before Comer delivered her son.

The regional district eventually joined the very small club of local governments to have a parental leave policy, allowing for six months without penalty. While staff have proactively driven some of these policies, they most often resulted because a pregnant elected official advocated for her rights while also doing the job she was elected to do, researching strollers, figuring out cribs and desperately trying to find the impossible: a comfortable sleep position.

At the provincial level, six people (I was number five) have given birth as a member of the B.C. legislature. Each one of us chipped away at making it a more family-friendly workplace. Maternity leave is now an allowed reason for absence from legislative proceedings, and MLAs don't have to abandon their baby when rushing to the legislature for a vote because they can go in with them.

Length of leaves, who covers their duties, job protection for internal duties, such as caucus chair or minister, and accommodations with new virtual-meeting technologies, however, remain dependent on requesting and receiving permission from someone who may make the same mistakes Sim did.

The federal level offers members of Parliament more clarity. Since 2019, MPs have been able to take up to a year of maternity or parental leave from duties in the House of Commons while their staff continue to manage their riding offices. Member of Parliament and Government House leader Karina Gould recently put this into practice with the birth of her second child. She's on a six-month leave, and is reassured that she will also keep her role as House leader and have accommodations so that parenthood doesn't become subsidiary to her service to Canadians. However, she has not been allowed to transfer her votes to a proxy, as is the case in the U.K.

Babies are born every day. But people don't have babies every day. Giving birth is a major feat for the human body and it takes time to recover. Sure, a new mom could fight the system when it works against her, but does she really need that when trying to figure out breastfeeding at 3 a.m.? Wouldn't it be better to just have an existing policy proactively in place as required by law?

This is what the government executives at local and provincial levels need to sort out fast. It's overdue for elected officials, their families and our democracy.

Few elected officials have taken the time to consider maternity and parental supports.