Bell supports rescheduling night legislature sittings

The newest member of the P.E.I. Legislature would like to see an end to night sittings, but the Green Party's Hannah Bell doesn't think it should be framed as a women's issue.

Besides its daytime hours, the house — when it's in session — sits from 7-9 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It ends on Fridays at 1 p.m.

Bell said the idea to reschedule night sitting to the day was first raised by the PEI Coalition for Women in Government almost 10 years ago.

It was raised again last week by Liberal MLA Paula Biggar, the minister responsible for the status of women, who said it would offer MLAs a better work-life balance and could entice more people to run for office.

Bell said sitting until 9 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday is an issue for anyone — men and women — with a young family.

"We don't know how many people aren't stepping up because that's a barrier too much for them to cope with," she said.

PCs 'welcome conversation'

In an email to CBC, PC Leader James Aylward said the party agrees that making the legislature more inclusive is important, but said there could be many ways to achieve that goal.

"There's lots of details to consider about how it might work in practice and likely different opinions to be heard but we welcome that conversation," he said.

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