A Canadian politician was blasted on social media soon after he posted a photo of his wife shovelling snow after completing a 12-hour shift at the hospital.

Jon Reyes, a Manitoba cabinet minister, tweeted the picture and wrote, “Even after a 12 hour night shift at the hospital last night, my wife still has the energy to shovel the driveway. God bless her and all our frontliners. Time to make her some breakfast.”

Social media users reacted strongly to the politician sitting inside his home while his wife worked in the freezing cold after working for these many hours. Many pointed out that he should either have gone to the driveway to help her or should have cleared it up himself before she arrived.

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Writer and journalist Tyler Conway responded with a collage of a woman’s red and swollen hands alongside a man’s hands holding a video game controller. 

Many resorted to sarcasm to prove the point. One user wrote, “My wife just finished a double shift in the ICU. I told her yesterday that my caddy’s shifting was a bit off. She surprised me by pulling the tranny and swapped the Johnson Rod. I’m going to have a beer in her honour while she cleans up her oily mess.”

Another tweeted, “My wife just worked a 25 hour shift at the ICU. Here she is still finding time to pilot an Evangelion Unit-02 to protect humanity from invading angels and prevent Third Impact. Respect for our frontline workers everywhere!”

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Meanwhile, another politician from Canada, Thomas Lukaszuk, tweeted that the photo was “not a depiction of every politician husband.” He wrote, “Ladies, let the record show that this is not a depiction of every politician husband.”

Reyes made his statement in an email to CBC News, “My wife is amazing, both at home and at work. I’m eternally grateful for her and everything she does. I love her very much.”

“I’m happy that she is getting the worldwide recognition she deserves, and it serves as a reminder to everyone – especially me today – that we can never do enough to show our gratitude to healthcare workers,” he wrote.