MP Marwa Risky, who is already the mother of a 14-month-old boy, is pregnant. If he doesn't choose to focus on his family now, the politician will run for the Liberal leadership. The elected official has not closed the door on running for the leadership of his party when his children are grown.
Fortune smiled on him a second time. Fertility treatments have worked again for the Saint-Laurent MP, who is scheduled to give birth at the end of June. “We're expecting a second baby!” he exclaimed with a smile in an interview with our Parliamentary Office.
The politician does not hide that resorting to IVF to conceive a child is physically and psychologically taxing. Failures are painful. “It's a little mental marathon,” he explains. When that doesn't work, you can't cry too long because your next treatment will come quickly.
In her relationship with Liberal MP Gregory Kelly, Marwah Rizqy recognizes that political-family reconciliation is also very challenging. With no right to parental leave, the two elected officials had to drag little Gabriel from Montreal to Quebec to sit in Parliament's Blue Room or long hours in parliamentary committees. “When we finished last June, I was so tired,” he recalls.
Of course, the brand new daycare at the National Assembly, which has been open since the fall, is a big help for the little ones. The Liberals don't want to be a judge and party to the debate, though they question the lack of parental leave for provincial representatives, while municipal and federal elected officials are entitled to it.
Marwa had to learn to say no to risk and impose short working days, especially when she was on her block. No more activities that end at eleven o'clock or midnight. From now on, she warns the organizers to stay at her little one's bedside before he falls into Morpheus' arms.
Constant pressure on leadership
Although she has already declared her colors for the PLQ leadership race in 2025 without her, Marwa Riski is still under pressure. When they're not columnists, people hang out on the street to encourage him to go on adventures.
“We're going to keep your baby!” The goal is not to keep him, but to educate him! That's my role!”
Photo by Pierre-Paul Poulin
He decided to focus on his family in the short term, but the politician admits he was spurred on by the Liberal leadership. If it weren't for the pregnancy and little Gabrielle, she'd be in the running after Dominic Anglade.
“I love my party and I am not leaving my party. I look at the situation and like everyone else I like things back… I like challenges so spontaneously, if someone asks me a question, the answer is sure to be yes! I felt ready.”
PLQ does not disappear
At the beginning of her first season, she didn't even think she would have children. Her meeting with Gregory Kelly changed her career path. She will not be able to project herself in the very long term future. The 38-year-old is taking one political mandate at a time.
For the next few years, these babies will be even smaller. But that doesn't close the door to a run for the Liberal throne as they get older. “I always have something relevant to contribute,” he notes.
Despite the dismal polls, he is sure of one thing: “The PLQ will not disappear.”
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