Mr. Speaker, I listened with interest to the member for Dartmouth's comments. I must say that while I understand his motives I certainly disagree with some of the arguments he raised.
In looking at the different regions in Canada, very quickly it is found that there are substantial differences in the cost of living for people in various regions. For example, in Vancouver the cost to acquire and maintain a house is much higher than in rural British Columbia or rural Saskatchewan. Looking at the cost of living from region to region, some people may do very well on $35,000 or $40,000 a year. However, other people are just skimping by on that kind of wage simply because so much of their earnings are going into their cost of living, particularly their housing.
One size fits all does not and cannot work for a country the size of Canada. This is a huge nation geographically with hundreds of thousands of square miles of land. There are different realities in all parts of Canada. We cannot impose a one size fits all standard on a nation this size. That is why the collective bargaining process has recognized this disparity in the cost of living and why we have the differences in pay rates. I would argue it is not a discriminatory practice, but rather a recognition of the reality of the cost of living in Canada by region.
If we are to impose this kind of a one size fits all standard and do away with regional differences in pay, the people who are currently paid less to reflect the reality of their lower cost of living are going to benefit greatly. However, the people who are to be the losers are the ones at the top end of the scale right now who require their income to maintain their households and their cost of living.
The member and the government have said that they want to run the government like a business. We agree with that. We think governments should be run like a business. I come from a business background and I know what it is like. In the construction company I formerly owned, people were working in different parts of British Columbia. The pay scales differed to reflect the reality of where they worked. For example, people were working in camps far away from home in areas that were remote and expensive to live in. Their pay scale was altogether different from that of people who could get up in the morning in the community they resided in and go to work.
If we are to run government like a business we have to understand that the method of dealing with employees has to be reflective of that. We cannot adopt a one size fits all standard if we are to run government like a business. We have to look at it from the point of view of what makes sense.
The other major concern I have with this motion is that it could be perceived by some as the thin edge of the wedge. Is this the beginning of an imposed minimum wage right across the nation? Will we have a minimum wage level established based on the most prosperous regions where the cost of living is highest and then have that imposed on the entire nation? There is real concern that may be the direction we will be going in if we adopt this kind of philosophy and attitude.
With the greatest of respect to the member, I think I understand his motivation, but I certainly disagree with his arguments. For that reason we on this side of the House, certainly myself, will not be supporting this motion.