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'It's kind of surreal when you pick up the phone and it's Prime Minister Harper or John Tory on the phone calling our house," says Quinn Flaherty, one of 16-year-old fraternal triplets, as he sits at a table flanked by his brothers, John and Galen.

Welcome to political life on the home front.

But at this 19th-century farmhouse in Whitby, Ont., the management of family life around the demands of politics operates at a whole new level.

Jim Flaherty, the federal Progressive Conservative Finance Minister, and Christine Elliott, the Ontario Progressive Conservative MPP, are the first couple in Canada to represent the same riding at two different levels of government.

On top of that, they have triplets, one of whom is disabled. Mr. Flaherty spends four nights a week in Ottawa.

Ms. Elliott, the incumbent in the Whitby-Ajax riding, is in the midst of the Oct. 10 Ontario election campaign.

"We have always been a busy couple," explains Mr. Flaherty, dressed casually for a Sunday morning late in September. "When Christine and I were both practising law, it wasn't like we were sitting around having dinner together every night."

High-functioning is the word for their lives. Ms. Elliott, a fit 50-year-old, stayed home for 2½ years after the birth of her children, then went back to her law career part-time.

Ten years ago, when the boys were in school, she found a retired couple to help with child care and returned to full-time work. The couple still works for them. "The consistency makes things a lot easier," she says.

Now, the help involves taking the boys to their various activities. But even with her busy schedule, Ms. Elliott tries to be home for dinner.

Part of their management style is to involve their children in their political lives.

Ms. Elliott takes them with her on the weekend when she canvasses local neighbourhoods. They have also attended receptions in Ottawa with their father. "Their jobs have risk, I guess," offers Galen in typical teenage fashion, mostly as a mumble with his eyes cast down at his hands. "Every election is a new thing."

"They're feeling it now," Ms. Elliott pipes in, laughing. "The boys know it all - when Mom is freaked out and when things are fine," she says, turning to look at each one to gauge the response.

"And these guys are not lacking in opinions," Mr. Flaherty adds.

Even about the income trust decision?

"I was actually very interested," offers Galen, brightening up. "I read a lot of articles about it and then I asked my dad and, at the end of it, I was actually in full support of my dad."

Mr. Flaherty smiles, then looks at his wife. "What's his allowance again?" asks the family finance minister.

Family life is often about politics in the Flaherty household, and the reverse is also true.

The couple's decisions about their political lives have been greatly informed by the needs of the family.

When Mr. Flaherty, 56, met Ms. Elliott, they were both working in a litigation law firm in downtown Toronto. Both were interested in politics. A year after they married, they decided that Ms. Elliott should run in the 1987 provincial election. But they soon realized they were not sufficiently prepared.

In 1990, Mr. Flaherty threw his own hat in the ring. He lost. "It was a good learning experience," he says. "And in retrospect, it was the best thing that could have happened."

While he had been going door-to-door, he had received a call from his wife, who had just had an ultrasound. She had been taking fertility drugs in the hopes of conceiving and now she was pregnant with triplets.

"I remember thinking, 'Maybe it would be better if I lost,' " Mr. Flaherty explains. "It would give me several more years of relatively high income compared to political income, and we had a lot of expenses."

After nine weeks of bed rest in hospital, Ms. Elliott gave birth to three healthy boys.

Fifteen months later, tragedy struck. John was hospitalized in intensive care for a month at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children.

"It started with a mosquito bite of some kind," Ms. Elliott explains, her distress palpable still. "The other two, for whatever reason, didn't get it. The best diagnosis the doctors had was encephalitis, inflammation of the brain."

The illness, and John's ensuing developmental problems, altered their lives. But rather than defeat them, the demands of a special-needs child only sharpened their commitment to public service.

"I think John, in a way, opened our eyes to a lot of needs," says Ms. Elliott, who got involved in care facilities as a volunteer parent. "It's what brought me to run politically because I could see from volunteer work what needed to be done."

Her opportunity came in 2006. Mr. Flaherty had been a member of the Ontario legislature for 10 years. He had held several cabinet posts, including Minister of Finance.

He had also run two unsuccessful leadership attempts, against Ernie Eves in 2002 and John Tory in 2004. Stephen Harper's federal conservative party was too hard to resist. He jumped, leaving a vacancy that Ms. Elliott ran to fill in a 2006 by-election.

"I was surprised when she wanted to do it," he says, looking at his wife.

Ms. Elliott acknowledges that the goodwill in the riding from her husband's tenure as MPP was a factor in her decision. "Definitely, we wanted to continue strong representation here."

Many urged her to emphasize their connection by running as a Flaherty. But she refused.

"I never changed my name when we married," she says. " It's not who I am. And I figured it would be disingenuous if I did." Besides, they are well-known as a couple in the community, she says.

On weekends, during election time, he goes door-to-door with her and the children. But he worries he could be a liability rather than an asset.

"I don't want to steal her thunder, but I also don't want to harm her provincial campaign because someone gets grumpy with Christine because I've taken a certain position on a federal issue that they don't agree with."

That happens, he says, but rarely. "I think there's a little bit of hometown cheering for us."

Aside from politics, which they discuss on Friday nights when he returns from Ottawa, they share a love of travel. This year, they took the boys to Australia.

They also enjoy downhill skiing. Leisure time as a couple is rare. They have tried to golf together, but unsuccessfully. "I've been to golf school three times and I'm still terrible," Ms. Elliott laments.

"The last time we went away alone together was after the election in 2003, after the provincial government was defeated. We went on a cruise," Mr. Flaherty recalls.

"No, that's wrong," Ms. Elliott says. "It was after the leadership race in 2004."

"Was that when it was?"

She nods. "I knew it was after a sad event. I just couldn't remember which political sad event," he adds.

But if their new political responsibilities have altered the family schedule somewhat - his federal portfolio requires more travel, for example - there is one added pleasure for Mr. Flaherty.

He is a political spouse. "It's great," he says. "I get to be eye candy."