I'd like to talk more about the minimum wage. Today, we presented the short version of our brief, since we only had 10 minutes to present it. Soon you will have the full version translated into your language.
In the fall of 2006, Mr. Harry W. Arthurs, of the Federal Labour Standards Review Commission, tabled a report concerning the minimum wage, among other things. That report recommended that, in 2006, the minimum wage in Canada be $10.22 an hour. And yet, this is not a left wing group. The Commission examined the question and determined that it was more socially cost-effective to increase the minimum wage. That's a very strong argument. I couldn't talk about the study in detail, because I haven't read it from start to finish.
Increasing the minimum wage is of course a key factor. The connection must be made between increases in social assistance benefits and an increase in the minimum wage. We often hear the argument that, if social assistance benefits are increased too far, they will be too close to the minimum wage and that, consequently, that will not encourage people to go off welfare and to enter the labour market. That at least is what we hear in Quebec. That reinforces our argument in favour of increasing the minimum wage.
In Quebec, earning minimum wage and working 40 hours a week does not even enable you to get out of poverty. We have to ask ourselves some serious questions.