By Sarah Mills

Door knocking & diapers: 2016 election different for campaigning dads

Mar 16, 2016 | 9:03 AM

Alot can happen in four years when it comes to a life in politics – oil prices slump, surpluses disappear and all of a sudden, you need a box of diapers in the campaign office.

That is the case for a number of male candidates this election who are on the campaign trail for the first time as dads.

The Saskatchewan Party’s Warren Steinley joked he might as well be running a daycare.

At his office in northwest Regina, a kid swing and activity centre greet voters at the door.

He is now a father of two, a big change from four years ago.

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Most of his campaign team are parents so there are least half a dozen little guys running around while the phone rings.

Steinley explained he wanted a space large enough to incorporate the kids and the work he has to do. So there’s a room for flyers, pamphlets and election info next door to a makeshift playroom and nap room.

“We set up some beds back here so they can relax and watch Paw Patroland have naps too.”

Steinley is making the campaign schedule fit around the kids, making sure he has time for bath time or bedtime.

“Nickson (my son) likes to have Daddy home to put him to bed. So we try to make sure we’re home for that,” Steinley said.

When the weather is good, the whole family is out on the doorsteps, strollers and pamphlets now in hand.

At Trent Wotherpoon’s NDP office in Regina Rosemont, the adults do out number the kids but the evidence of William and his friends is all over.

There are footballs, hockey sticks and story books in the corners along with photos of the toddler and Wotherspoon’s wife, Stephanie.

The NDP incumbent laughs that life on the campaign trail sure is different as a dad now than four years ago.

“We (do) take a little break, just as Stephanie finishes her school day, to come together and have a little picnic or go for a bite to eat.”

Wotherspoon’s admits being a dad has given him a new perspective on his job as a politician that perhaps wasn’t there before.

In many ways your family is a reminder of what’s really important and why we do what we do.”

 Email smills@cjme.com
 Twitter @smillsSK