MHAs don't get maternity leave, but these mothers are combining the House with home
Mom and minister are life-defining for some politicians
Two worlds collide for Liberal politicians when a particular playpen shows up in their office on Confederation Hill in St. John's.
It's a tradition started by Energy Minister Andrew Parsons, who would have his children visit his office as babies more than a decade ago.
Later, the playpen was passed down to Immigration Minister Sarah Stoodley in 2019.
Now, it sits in the office of Education Minister Krista Lynn Howell, who is juggling to life-defining roles: politician and parent.
"It's been challenging and beautiful chaos, I would say. All wrapped up in one," said Howell, whose son, Orion, was born in August.
Howell, who was elected as MHA for St. Barbe-L'Anse aux Meadows in 2021, has been a minister ever since.
It wasn't until she saw the playpen in her office that her new reality set in.
"That's probably the first day that I realized that this is real, that I'm going to be doing mom and minister at the same time," Howell said.
No maternity leave
In Newfoundland and Labrador, there are no maternity or parental leave provisions from constituency duties for Members of the House of Assembly.
Bobbi Russell, director of communications and policy for the House of Assembly, said this is because MHAs are not considered employees.
"They would continue to receive their MHA salary if they are away from their duties for any type of leave," Russell said.
Howell took a short leave of absence after her son was born.
MHAs can miss one sitting of the House of Assembly for parental leave. Ministers, however, are not eligible.
"As a minister there was no such policy, but the premier did say that I had some time to take until I was ready to come back," Howell said.
Absences in the House of Assembly result in a salary reduction of $200 per day.
"People don't know that there's no maternity leave in this role," Howell said. "That's come up in my district. People would say, 'well, where do we call now that you're on maternity leave,' and [I say] you still call me because I'm not on maternity leave."
To balance the two roles, Howell's husband is on paternity leave instead.
She credits Stoodley for making the transition easier.
Before the birth of her son, Alexander, in 2019, Stoodley helped introduce legislation that would allow infants on the floor when the House is in session and provide baby-changing facilities in some washrooms.
"She just did incredible things, took very few days off, brought her son to the house and still managed to rock her role," Howell said.
Colleague seen as a trailblazer
Stoodley paved the way for expectant parents in politics in 2020. She was sworn in as minister when she was seven months pregnant.
The House was sitting when her son was born. With maternity leave not an option, Stoodley barely missed any time.
Her son was born on a Wednesday. MHAs returned to their constituencies that Friday for a one-week break. When the House resumed the following Monday, Stoodley was there with her baby in tow — 12 days after he was born.
"I didn't want anyone to think that I was not doing my job and not representing them," she said. "I had a lot of legislation."
Alexander spent a few months in and out of the House of Assembly. Stoodley's mom would sometimes be in the caucus room with the baby.
Other times, someone on her team would take him. In the case of a diaper disaster and a call to vote, the premier stepped in.
"It's more than just changing a diaper," Stoodley said. "I was still changing Alexander, the bells rang, which means I have like a limited amount of time to get back."
"I brought him in with a diaper on half dressed," said Stoodley, whose own memory of the moment is a bit blurry.
"Someone told me the premier took him, dressed him, and gave him back to me," she said. Furey at the time sat in front of her. "We all made it," she said.
Valuing little ones in the legislature
With her son now four years old, Stoodley said being a mom makes her a better politician.
With a child-proof office and some toys on hand, she said it's important for governments to have politicians at different life stages.
"You can't have a room of people making decisions who are all retired from another career. You need to have people with a range of skill sets, a range of conditions," Stoodley said.
For example, in 2022, Stoodley's former department mandated the use of helmets to operate all off-road vehicles.
She said the decision was controversial. People were against it — including the late cabinet minister and Liberal MHA Derrick Bragg.
His kids and grandchildren changed his mind. Bragg didn't want his vote to cause harm to his daughter or new grandson if an accident were to happen.
"I remember he came to me one day, and he said he changed his mind," Stoodley said. "He wanted to do everything in his power to make his daughter and grandson safe."
Those perspectives are why Stoodley believes politicians with young children need to be in the House of Assembly.
"Not everyone needs to have little kids, but we have to have some people have little kids in the legislature when we're making these laws," she said.
Motherhood and municipal politics
Across town from Confederation Building, you can find another perspective on motherhood and politics at St. John's City Hall.
Maggie Burton was first elected to city council in 2017. She started out with two young children, and had two more while in office.
Burton has never taken a traditional 12-to-18-month maternity leave.
"Every time I've been on maternity leave for a few months, I have been doing work the whole time, right? I'm just not attending meetings in person. But I'm still doing my job," she said.
When she returned to work, her children went with her.
"We had lots of really interesting experiences together as a mom and young babies," Burton said.
Burton took them to meetings, breastfed in the council chambers, and changed diapers in her office.
As the babies become toddlers, Burton said balancing motherhood and her role in municipal politics became trickier.
For example, finding child care can be a challenge — which is why many families step in to accommodate politicians' unusual work hours.
"Being a woman in politics with young children means that everyone in your family is participating in the political process, in some way or another," Burton said.
"I want to show people that we're capable of doing both governing roles and being good parents at the same time."
Burton said municipal politics is a great place to start for women considering entering politics. The job is flexible and accommodating to young children, and being a mom makes her a better councillor.
"You want to make a better world for your children," said Burton, who will wrap her career as a councillor at the next election.
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