"I will not apologize": BC politician speaks out over breastfeeding hate
A BC politician is not letting a storm of negative comments online impact how she’s serving in the Legislature as the minister of emergency management and climate readiness.
Bowinn Ma received a comment for breastfeeding her three-month-old child in public, something which the MLA for North Vancouver-Lonsdale says she will not apologize for.
“You call this having child care covered, breastfeeding while presenting to a group of interns mostly young men,” one person wrote on X.
“Sigh. I will not apologize for feeding my three-month-old baby when she is hungry,” Ma responded.
Sigh. I will not apologize for feeding my three month old baby when she is hungry. https://t.co/s33uuQyGNV
— Bowinn Ma (@BowinnMa) February 28, 2024
A few others agreed that Ma should not have done that or even brought her baby to Victoria, where she works.
I have a three month old too. Could I bring my baby to work teaching? Do employers allow this? Breastfeeding in public I am all for, and the audience of the presentation here is certainly irrelevant. The question for me here is different: Can babies come to work? Which jobs?
— Jennifer Mackenzie (@veneresophia) February 28, 2024
However, many thought the whole thing was an outdated way of thinking.
“When I was breastfeeding in public 18 years ago, I thought that by 2024 women would not have to be reminding anyone that they don’t need to apologize for feeding their baby. I’m sorry it’s still not better,” a supporter told Ma.
“I was even wearing a cover! (Not that this would change my support for women who feed their baby whenever needed, covered or not.)” Ma said.
It’s not the first time Ma has received hate over being a working mother. The same person who questioned her breastfeeding also suggested Ma just stay home when a photo of a crib was shared on the politician’s social media.
She’s here! She’s here! Baby Azalea has arrived at the BC Legislature. 🥰 #bcpoli https://t.co/cWCYGNkw8f pic.twitter.com/ESuGCUjOJr
— Bowinn Ma (@BowinnMa) February 20, 2024
“Oh for goodness sake, stay home & be a mother. This is not needed now or ever in the legislature,” the same person had said.
While in Prince George I also had an opportunity to thank some of the firefighters currently deployed to BC from the US! We’re very fortunate to have had international firefighting resources join us from Mexico 🇲🇽, America 🇺🇸, Australia 🇦🇺, New Zealand 🇳🇿, Brazil 🇧🇷. pic.twitter.com/s0FNnrhprO
— Bowinn Ma (@BowinnMa) July 24, 2023
Ma was also questioned for her work during BC’s wildfire season, in which she was pregnant and travelling to wildfire-damaged areas. It seems that she’s not entertaining any hate of this kind and pointing out how sexist it is to be asked.
I’ll take “questions men don’t get asked” for $400, Alex. https://t.co/ZU6Z3ptZ4q
— Bowinn Ma (@BowinnMa) November 11, 2023
Many have been quick to condemn the critics.
“What century is this?” one man wrote under a negative question.
The MLA for Maple-Ridge Mission, Bob D’Eith, applauded Ma.
Nor should you @BowinnMa! If we do not make space for parents of young children in politics, then we are missing a critical perspective.
And, frankly Bowinn is one of the hardest working and dedicated MLAs that I know. https://t.co/UfmeBKG7dL
— Bob D’Eith (@BobDEithMRM) February 28, 2024
That sentiment was echoed by Princeton Mayor Spencer Coyne.
When I was in the gallery at the Throne Speech I was so happy to see you & Azalea. I thought about how our culture charrishes children and so happy to see you both there. Then the elder mentioned it & I smiled. We don’t shame for having our families with us. We celebrate it!
— Spencer Coyne, Mayor (@flipofthecoyne) February 28, 2024
Others urged British Columbians to be supportive.
I can’t believe I just read that. Let’s be better and lift each other women up @HilaryT75527886 A mother feeding her baby isn’t the issue, you are!
— Teryne DeCraene (@terybaby34) February 28, 2024
Ma spoke with Daily Hive Wednesday about the reaction and says she thinks it’s important to address it.
“Overwhelmingly, everyone that I have engaged with has been incredibly supportive of me returning to work as an MLA, as a minister, while also being a new mum, and I have been incredibly grateful for the support that I’ve received,” Ma said.
“There are some who still carry some negative views towards working mothers and I think it’s important that we collectively push back on that,” she added.
Ma pointed out that it wasn’t that long ago that things were very different, and it’s important to keep moving forward to ensure women serve in the political sphere.
“Christy Clark was one of the first to raise a baby as a cabinet minister. But it wasn’t even until Michelle Mungall in 2018 that babies were allowed into the chambers. Back before the Legislative Assembly here in BC decided to change that rule to allow babies into the chambers, in theory, as a mother, you would have to leave your baby at the threshold if you were called into a vote. That kind of environment is not conducive to enabling women and mothers of young children to serve in this capacity,” she said.
“There’s a long way to go still; I mean, it is very recent. I’m the 14th woman to give birth as a sitting cabinet minister in all of Canadian history, and that’s not a lot of people. There’s not a lot of precedents to lean back on,” she said.
Adding that she knows she’s privileged to be in her position.
“In my case, our family made the choice that my husband would be a full-time dad, and he chooses to support my daughter and me in that way,” she said.
“She’s too young for solid food and doesn’t take the bottle well. So yes, I’m going to keep her close to me and I’m going to breastfeed her when she’s hungry. And those are the choices that we made to allow me to continue to serve my community and my province,” she explained.
What do you think of Ma’s response? Let us know in the comments.