Thank you for those questions. They're really good ones.
I'll start with the issue of the minimum wage. That provides a good opening to thinking about one of the fundamental basic human rights in terms of economic, social, and cultural rights, which is the right to freely choose one's work, to work in safe conditions, and to be paid enough to enjoy a decent standard of living. So I think the question of a minimum wage addresses that one key fundamental human right.
In terms of a poverty reduction strategy, this is a good area where, as the federal government creates its poverty reduction strategy in collaboration with provinces and territories, it should identify making sure people can have work that provides a decent standard of living. One of the root causes of high rates of poverty in Canada is the large number of low-paid jobs. So getting the minimum wage up to a level where a person working full time full year can rise above the low-income line will be a key element.
But also important would be enforcement of labour standards and updating labour standards to new labour practices, like contracting out and the growth in temp agencies. All these things have to come together, as well as how the federal government will work with provinces and with business and labour to ensure that people who start working at low-wage low-skilled jobs can upgrade their skills throughout their career, so they can earn higher wages and be more productive in their work.
This is why it takes a strategic plan, and there should be a target to reduce the number of low-paid jobs. Raising the minimum wage would be one of the actions that would get us there.
Around the funding for non-profit groups, again it's a question of complementarity of roles among different levels of government. One of the issues I've encountered over the years from non-profit groups is the problem of always having to seek project-based funding and losing out on a lot of core funding. That would have to be rectified.
I'll just give you one quick example of how the interaction between non-profit groups can help enhance very good programs the federal government has. One area where Canada has done very well in reducing poverty has been among seniors, as I'm sure you're well aware, with programs like old age security and the guaranteed income supplement. However, a number of years ago it became known that there were a lot of seniors who were actually eligible for these programs but weren't accessing them. The question was how you let those folks know. HRDC—I think that is what it was called in those days—put together an action plan, working with community groups to get out to places like seniors centres to get the information out so that more seniors could access this program, which was one of the keys in bringing down poverty among seniors.
That is just an example of how the coordination of a strategic plan at the federal government level, with community groups, can really have an impact in making sure people can access services and reduce poverty.