Babies should be welcome at public events

Edmonton isn’t child-friendly just yet, Keren Tang writes

In a city where the largest demographic is 30 to 35 years old, many of whom have moved here to start families, the needs of children and their parents should be top of mind for all of us.

I have often felt nervous and apologetic attending events with my newborn baby, whose behaviour can sometimes be unpredictable.

But even so, I never expected to be asked to leave because of her.

So I was surprised when, during a recent public forum, a volunteer asked me and my stroller-bound five-month-old to leave, citing safety and accessibility concerns.

“You weren’t able to find any child care today?” he asked incredulously.

My surprise quickly turned to anger. What if I had mobility issues instead of the stroller? Would I have received the same strange treatment — and at a social justicefocused event, no less?

Perhaps I should not have been surprised at all. Leading up to the event, I had wondered whether I would be welcomed with a baby in tow. I emailed the organizers, but hearing no response, I decided to take the chance and hope all would be welcome.

My husband was out of town, and like many Edmontonians who come from elsewhere, we have no family around to help us out.

Child care is expensive and it can be hard to find a nanny for a five-month-old child.

But this experience made me stop and think. Why did I have these insecurities about bringing my child to public events?

In a city where the largest demographic is 30 to 35 years old, many of whom have moved here to start families, the needs of children and their parents should be top of mind for all of us.

On the positive side, apartment buildings downtown and even the Alberta legislature have become more family-friendly recently.

And while there are emerging policies, such as the city’s Child-Friendly Initiative, there are also conflicts, such as the recent lawsuit against the development of a child care centre because of residents’ concerns over noise and parking. There is clearly room for improvement. Our city could learn from the teachings of elders from Saddle Lake about a First Nations’ traditional governance structure.

It places the aged and children in the centre of society, with everyone else — hunters, gatherers, medicine people, chief and council — on the outside supporting them.

We too often place the needs of already-powerful people, such as politicians and business leaders, ahead of marginalized groups.

But if we plan and make decisions from a place that is child, age and mobility friendly, then we will better achieve collective wellbeing.

Other cities have taken this approach in their planning.

For example, when the city of Vienna looked at transportation from the point of view of girls and women back in the ’90s, they identified the need to increase lighting and to widen sidewalks, which benefited everyone.

These sorts of considerations should be a starting point, rather than an afterthought.

We talk about building a more inclusive and socially just city for our future generations.

So why don’t we include the future generations as part of the conversation?