Julie Smyth is an Ottawa-based writer
Before Justin Trudeau became Prime Minister, his family employed two nannies, one at night and one during the daytime. Like most nannies, the women did other jobs too, cleaning, some cooking, preparing kids' snacks and other household duties.
That the Trudeaus had hired help is not new or surprising, given their schedules with three children eight and under, and the fact they come from a privileged background.
But two nannies? Day and night child care? That is excessive by most parenting standards, even for a prime minister. Should the public purse now pay for their two nannies to care for Xavier, Ella-Grace and Hadrien?
Even before her husband was elected to the highest office in Canada, Sophie Grégoire-Trudeau had a full life outside the home – volunteering, speaking out on issues such as bulimia, attending political functions and teaching some yoga. She does not work full-time, but helps important causes, is a busy mom and political wife.
In addition to her nannies, she also relies on her mother and mother-in-law to help. Before they moved to the "cottage" on the grounds of Rideau Hall, Ms. Grégoire-Trudeau could be seen at the local kids' park with a nanny and her mother, the three women all fussing over the youngest Trudeau child. Her daytime nanny would also accompany her and Hadrien to lunch at popular restaurants in the Ottawa Byward Market.
The Trudeaus are involved parents who show up at the school yard to pick up and drop off their older two. Mr. Trudeau could, at times, be seen on the other side of the crossing guard in track pants, like any dad on his day off.
The Trudeaus are not most people. They rented a house in Ottawa's tony Rockcliffe when he was just an MP. At her husband's swearing in, Mr. Trudeau's wife wore a dress by London-based and Montreal-born designer Erdem, who also designed a piece for Princess Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, according to Maclean's magazine. When she met the Queen, she wore a $7,000 diamond encrusted, 18-karat white gold maple leaf brooch on loan from Birks.
During his election campaign, the Prime Minister championed the middle class. He refused the family's entitlement to a child-based tax break under Stephen Harper's government, saying rich people do not need the government to subsidize their childcare costs. This conflict is why people decried the public disclosure of their nanny bill to taxpayers.
They are not the first to hire nannies. Trudeau and his two brothers had a nanny when their dad was prime minister. As PM, Pierre Trudeau did not always travel with hired help, though. On one trip to the North after he separated from Margaret, he brought his older sister to look after two of his school-aged boys.
Brian Mulroney, another well-off prime minister from Montreal, said he would not charge the public for childcare when he was PM and denied he had a nanny as Opposition leader, but his spokesman acknowledged he had a housekeeper who "interfaces with the children in a habitual way."
The Harpers, who are not wealthy like many past prime ministerial families, had a house manager and chef at 24 Sussex Dr., and Laureen Harper, who volunteered extensively, had an assistant. They never hired a nanny when they had young children, and did not bill taxpayers for childcare.
Prime ministers and leaders of the Opposition get a budget with their residence and office. Stornoway comes with two staff. Rona Ambrose, as interim leader, has a housekeeper, and a chef who doubles as house manager.
Stephen Harper was criticized because his personal stylist, Michelle Muntean, was also a psychic. People mocked Mila Mulroney's shoe closet and Pierre Trudeau's swimming pool.
A family with three young children and one parent running the country is entitled to a budget and staff to help out, as long as they spend within guidelines.
The optics are bad: This has an air of entitlement. If they object to rich people getting government handouts to raise their children, why do they think the public should pay for two nannies?
The Trudeaus are the one per cent elite – there is no question about it. Those in that position of privilege commonly have one full-time nanny or more, sure. But the unacceptable difference: The Trudeaus are asking Canadians to pay.