Honestly, it was transformational for me, especially as a mom of a young infant. Being able to vote electronically made such a huge difference in terms of the time that I could spend with my daughter, especially in those early months.
Some of the questions from the previous MPs were around whether this meant more work, and I would say, yes, it did. I was working more on my parliamentary duties. I was working more when it came to being in the constituency and hearing from constituents. I was also doing a better job as a mom, as a parent and as a partner. I was able to do all of these things much better.
I love my job. It's such rewarding work. It's such a privilege to represent the riding of Victoria. If we were to go back to a world without a virtual Parliament.... I'm committed to running again in the next election. I don't know if I would choose to run again after that. I've spoken with other members across party lines who have young families and who have said the same thing. We have an opportunity to make Parliament more accessible and to allow members to be better at their jobs and also better at fulfilling the other duties in their lives.
I also want to mention the piece around working while sick. I agree with the member who mentioned that we don't want to normalize the idea of working while sick, but that's actually happening in person and that's scary, because that oftentimes will spread the disease. But there are all kinds of illnesses and diseases, and we want to give members the choice. We want to give women the choice. We want to give people with disabilities the choice. We want to give members the choice to do this work in the best way possible.