Alberta councillor brings her baby to work and breastfeeds, people complain

Our contributing editor Alex passed around this article about a young Alberta councillor who brings her baby with her and breastfeeds during council meetings. A fellow council member used a newspaper column to attack her and accuse her of wasting people's tax dollars, saying the baby was distracting and disruptive.

I posted the article on the CanadianParents.com message boards, and it instantly became a hot topic. Here's a roundup of some of the reactions it got:

"The only question worth asking is whether or not bringing the baby to council meetings interferes with her ability to do her job as a councillor. If it does not interfere than I think it is a non-issue."

"I wish there were tax funded programs that would make taking our kids with us to work a normal event."

"I don't feel babies belong in the workplace whether it is a safe environment or not. Generally, if someone brings a baby to work the productivity is severely reduced in the office b/c everyone is cooing over the baby. Companies pay us to do work and not coo over babies."

"I don't agree that she should have her baby at work but given the fact the city councillors voted and said it was OK by majority than it should be left at that. I would have been one of the people who had voted no but would have delt with it had it not gone my way and been a mature adult about it."

What do you think? Should this councillor continue to be allowed to bring her baby to work?

Photo by Milkwooders via Flickr.