In the Yukon, women are marching for work-life balance in the political space

On Wednesday afternoon, just over two dozen women gathered at Les EssentiElles headquarters, many with babies in their arms or in prams, to take part in the event in support of Michel Friesen.

At the end of February, the chancellor received a call from the mayor telling her that co-workers and city employees had complained about her son, Theo, attending council meetings.

Michel Friesen’s son Theo was born in July 2022 and has since attended many town council meetings.

Photo: Radio-Canada/Sarah Zinos

I work extremely hard as a counselor and I never felt distracted or unable to do my job because my son was with me.Pointing out on Monday.

The situation still surprised the director of the organization organizing the rally, Lawrence Revard.

We cannot take this for granted and must once again insist that women with children have the right to occupy positions in active politics.She said in front of the town hall where protesters gathered.

She explains that initially the idea was simply to organize a meal with mothers and their children, but after hearing Michelle Friesen’s testimony, it was important to organize a movement to support her.

One council member was moved to welcome them to the forecourt of the town hall while demonstrators claimed the importance of balancing work and family and the place mothers held in the political space.

Honestly, over the past few days I have received nothing but support, love, and encouragement and that means a lot.Michelle Friesen said, adding that she will continue to tell her story in order to change the status quo.

meeting to find a solution

Whitehorse Mayor Laura Cabot says she never told the councilwoman to stop taking her son, but instead insists that she He wanted to find a solution that would work for everyone.

Three women have come out to protest in support of Councilor Michelle Frison, the first Indigenous councilor to serve on City Council in nearly 30 years.

Photo: Radio-Canada/Sarah Zinos

We make important decisions for citizens and citizens should be able to operate in a place where they can fully participate so that all of us, including Chancellor Friesen, can gather information, discuss it, have a dialogue and be able to make decisions.as you say.

Michelle Friesen stresses that a meeting should be held in the next few days in order to find a solution that she hopes will allow her to keep her son with her during the meetings.

With information from Jackie Hong and Marybeth Dean