Mr. Speaker, much has been said across the way about how we should be leaving this issue to the provinces.
When the Conservatives were running the province in Ontario, they froze the minimum wage for 12 long years. As a result, in my riding of York South—Weston, a by-election was fought in 2007 on the minimum wage. The NDP was successful in winning that seat in that by-election as a result of advocating for a $10 minimum wage.
Within a couple of weeks of that decision, the provincial government was forced to raise the minimum wage. Guess what. It was not a calamity. The sky did not fall in. Industry did not fall apart. The world as we knew it did not end. It went up.
It has not gone up far enough. I think that is part of what we are talking about.
There is a principle at stake here. I know it is difficult for the members opposite to understand what a principle is, but the principle is that the free market is not doing the job. The government pretends to be in favour of the free market, and then it introduces temporary foreign workers, it introduces EI rules that mean that people have to take lower wages, and it makes organizing harder.
The principle is that people should be able to earn a living wage. That is the principle we are standing for. Do you agree?