Melinda Gates dares MPs to spend time with family. Will they listen?
Liberal MP Peter Schiefke has made seeing his family—and young son—a priority
Share
Melinda Gates has laid down a challenge to male members of Parliament: Put down your phones and spend more time with your families. Gates praised Catherine McKenna, Canada’s Minister of Climate Change and the Environment, for pledging to turn off her phone between 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m.—and focusing not on work, but on spending time with her three children. Now, Gates wants McKenna’s male colleagues to follow the example.
As the Prime Minister raises his own young family, is there a culture change underway on Parliament Hill? Will new rules about work-life balance mean that MPs don’t have to choose between work and family?
Evan Solomon spoke with Liberal MP Peter Schiefke, the parliamentary secretary to the Prime Minister on youth issues. Schiefke is the father of a 15-month-old son, and is expecting his second child soon. For him, a careful work-life balance is paramount.