GLOBAL: "NDP bill would end N.S. councillors’ need to ask permission for pregnancy leave"
"Nova Scotia municipal councillors who are pregnant would no longer be required to ask permission from their councils for maternity leave under legislation proposed by the opposition NDP.
The bill introduced Tuesday by New Democrat MLA Claudia Chender would update the province’s Municipal Government Act and the Halifax Charter.
Chender said the idea is to drop the requirement for permission, while renumeration would continue for up to 52 meeting absences.
'Practically speaking what this will do is that women will not have to get the permission … of their mostly male colleagues to miss work because they’ve had a child and they won’t have to fear that their pay will be docked.'
Chender said the province should be removing any barriers that keep women from running for office.
'I sincerely hope (the bill) will encourage more women to enter municipal politics because they won’t have to make a choice between having a family or serving their communities, she said."
Image: Nicole De Khors