Man's photo of his wife shoveling snow is sparking a heated debate

Who should shovel the snow? That is the question.

Canadian politician Jon Reyes is facing heat after he shared a photo of his wife, Cynthia, a registered nurse, shoveling snow off their driveway this weekend.

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

Although Reyes meant well, he immediately faced backlash from people who believed his wife should be kicking up her feet instead of doing extra housework outside.

However, some people defended Reyes and said that there was no issue with what he had done.

After the politician's tweet went viral, his wife posted on Facebook to provide some context and explain why she wanted to be outside in frigid temperatures after a long day at work.

"I just wanted to shovel! 🤦🏻‍♀️," she said. "What people should know is that I came home from a 12 hour night shift at the hospital, it was a good night which lately as you can imagine hasn’t always been the case for myself and my nursing colleagues.

"As I drove home, it’s my time to decompress, I arrived home before anyone was awake, after all, it was a Saturday morning. As I pulled up to my driveway, I felt energy to shovel the snow that fell all night and into the morning," Cynthia continued. "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."

"I enjoy it," Cynthia added. "Jon heard me shoveling, 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!"

And while Reyes’ post sparked a huge debate on Twitter, he told TODAY that he hasn’t been listening to any of the naysayers.

“My wife is amazing, both at home and at work. I’m eternally grateful for her and everything she does,” he said. “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,” Reyes said.