MP says her baby was kicked out of House
Written by on February 8th, 2012 in Latest News.
A Quebec MP is calling for change after she says she was questioned to remove her three-month-ancient baby from the House of Commons during a vote.
Sana Hassaniaia and her son, Skander Jack, whom she said was handed over to a page after she was told to remove him from the House of Commons.
NDP MP Sana Hassainia said she was called back quickly to a vote in the House Tuesday and had to bring her baby boy along after she couldn’t locate her husband.
A clerk came up to her and said the Speaker wanted her to remove the baby from chamber, she said.
“The rules are that no strangers are allowed in,” Hassainia told CBC News. “So certainly, yes, my baby is a weirder. But, it’s not like he was a threat to national security.”
She said the baby wasn’t crying or making noise and remained in her arms until she was told to remove him.
Photography caused disruption
Heather Bradley, press secretary for Speaker Andrew Scheer, said he did not instruct Hassaniaia to remove the baby.
Just as the vote was about to start, Scheer noticed several MPs snapping pictures of Hassaniaia and her son.
A clerk was dispatched to question them to sit down so the vote could get underway, Bradley said.
The rule is that the House floor is reserved for elected members of Parliament, but babies of MPs have been in the House before.
It’s the Speaker’s responsibility to ensure that there are no distractions during votes and the presence of a baby may or may not constitute a distraction, Bradley said.
Hassaniaia acknowledged people were snapping pictures, but maintained the message she received was that she was to remove the baby and that photos were not addressed.
One MP told CBC News the head of the House pages came to speak to Hassainia and told her the baby couldn’t stay for the vote.
The MP said Hassainia passed her baby to a “pretty nervous looking page, who wasn’t too sure about how to hold the baby,” who then passed him to lobby staff.
Lack of support
It’s already hard for working mothers in the House as there is nothing set up to support them taking care of their children while attending to their duties, Hassaniaia said, adding that she often had to duck into offices to breast feed.
“As MPs, we don’t have a lot of time for maternity leave. So, it’s a return to work that you could say is premature compared to what most Canadian mothers do,” she said.
“It’s vital for me to do, but the message that the Conservatives are giving is either you work or you look after your family. It’s too terrible because it discourages women, young women, from going into politics if there is nothing plotted for that.”
She said more consideration should be given to how mothers can return to work to attend to their parliamentary obligations without sacrificing their obligations to their infants.
“I hope that this incident will allow the Speaker to reckon about these kinds of situations,” she said.
“I hope that the next time I will need to be there with my baby and I don’t have a choice, the Speaker will allow him to remain with me.”
