Wife of Canadian politician defends husband for sharing photo of her shovelling snow
Incident is ‘reminder of how social media can blow things out of proportion and negatively affect many’, she says
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Canadian politician Jon Reyes’ wife Cynthia Reyes has defended her husband after he was criticised for posting a photo of her shovelling snow in their driveway after a long night.
On 8 January, the Manitoba cabinet minister shared a photo of Ms Reyes digging through deep snowfall outside their home.
“Even after a 12 hour night shift at the hospital last night, my wife still has the energy to shovel the driveway,” he wrote in the Twitter post. “God bless her and all our frontliners. Time to make her some breakfast.”
Soon, the tweet went viral with many users condemning Mr Reyes for not clearing the driveway himself.
“Why didn’t YOU do it?” one person asked. “And if you legitimately cannot for some reason, why don’t you pay someone to do it for you so she can come home to a clean driveway and go straight to bed? What is wrong with you?”
On Tuesday (11 January), Ms Reyes shared a long Facebook post defending her husband saying “the tweet would not have gone viral if the gender roles were reversed”.
“As I pulled up to my driveway, I felt energy to shovel the snow that fell all night and into the morning. As many Manitobans and Canadians know, it’s a great workout, it allowed me to unwind, it’s refreshing after having worn an N95 mask almost the entire night, the weather was mild and it was quiet and peaceful,” she said.
Ms Reyes added: “Jon heard me shovelling, it actually woke him up and he was surprised and impressed to see that I had energy after a long shift to do this, so he took a pic, made breakfast and posted, and the rest is embedded in social media history forever!
“To us as a family we share different chores not based on any gender; but mostly on who is available to do it,” the nurse said, adding that the latest incident was a “reminder of how social media can blow things out of proportion and negatively affect many users”.
“What was said by my husband on Twitter was honest, genuine and sincere, this made me realise that I am grateful that he appreciates what I do and that he loves me and shows it publicly, this is nothing new. I am proud that he is unapologetically himself,” she added.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments