FREDERICTON -- There was a new face at a Fredericton city council meeting this week – though they didn’t cast a vote.
Councillor Cassandra LeBlanc brought her seven-week-old baby Josie to Monday’s regular council meeting, balancing parenthood and politics, and hoping others consider doing the same.
But the young attendee didn’t come without some anxiety.
“I was worrying about my baby having a blowout. And where am I going to change them? If it’s a big council, I don’t want to miss a vote,” LeBlanc said.
Also: breastfeeding, and what to do if Josie cried.
But Josie fit right in.
At 27, LeBlanc was the youngest woman to run for Fredericton city council. At the time, she knew she wanted to start a family at some point.
She’s been attending meetings virtually, but Monday night’s council meeting was the first she did in person since Josie’s arrival. LeBlanc said she had the support of her colleagues and Mayor Kate Rogers, who is also Fredericton’s first female mayor.
Rogers said it’s taken some time for the city, and other political tables, to make women feel welcome.
“The conversation was, ‘Why aren’t there more women at the table?’ And I would say, ‘Women don’t want to be at that table because that table is not welcoming to us. And when we come to this table, we’re very aware it wasn’t designed for us,’” she said. “I wanted to create a space where women knew that it was their place.”
Very few sitting New Brunswick politicians have given birth while in office. Five years ago, MLA Megan Mitton had to ask the provincial legislature to install change tables, so she could bring her newborn to the house.
At the time, Mitton said change was necessary to ensure more young women felt they could run for public office.
“It tends to be a space that has been traditionally dominated by men, and so even going into politics I had heard recommendations to do it later in life, not do it when you have a kid,” she said. “I haven’t followed that.”
LeBlanc hopes Josie grows up in a word with even more women, and young mothers, around the professional table.
“I hope one day she looks back on that and is proud of her mom. And maybe it inspires her and other little girls to run for council or other offices,” she said.
