North Vancouver MLA Bowinn Ma welcomes second child, balances cabinet duties with parenthood

North Vancouver Lonsdale MLA and Infrastructure Minister Bowinn Ma announced this week that her second child, baby Jack, was born July 6 at Lions Gate Hospital at 8:42 p.m., weighing 7 lbs 3 oz., two days ahead of his due date.

With Jack's arrival, Ma is the first woman to give birth twice while holding a position as a cabinet minister. Her daughter Azalea, now a "very busy" two-and-a-half-year-old, is "thrilled to be a big sister," said Ma.

Ma will take July and August as a leave for family time with her newborn. Lisa Beare, minister of education and child care, will take on Ma's ministerial duties in the meantime. Ma plans to return to her political duties in September. While she could theoretically take a longer leave, the current political environment makes that impractical. "When Azalea was an infant, we had a very strong majority government with a lot of spare numbers in terms of votes in the House," she said. "This is a marked difference from the political environment that Jack is going to be an infant in, where even a single vote matters on the floor."

Ma pointed to the example of fellow MLA Darlene Rotchford, who in spring 2025 gave birth by C-section at 5 a.m. and was voting in the House virtually by 11 a.m. While some questioned her ability to combine new parenthood with cabinet responsibilities during her first pregnancy, Ma said attitudes are gradually changing. "It gets better with every example of a female politician who manages to get it done," she said.

Ma also gave a shout-out to former Speaker of the House Linda Reid, who was both the longest-serving female MLA in the Legislature and the first woman to hold the position of Speaker. "She raised two kids in the Legislature. She's just an absolute dynamo that blazed a really wide path for all of us," Ma said.