Mr. Speaker, this bill, which raises the federal minimum wage rate, has been long awaited by the people concerned. The federal minimum wage rate is now $4 an hour, compared to $7 in British Columbia, $6.85 in Ontario, and even $5.25 in Newfoundland.
Needless to say, this minimum wage is extremely low, and it is high time that this so-called modern government adjusted it.
What is interesting is that, in adjusting the minimum wage, the federal government has chosen-thereby breaking with tradition-to align it with the minimum wage rate paid in the province where the employee under federal jurisdiction works.
This is extremely interesting because it shows how, with these different labour markets and labour laws, when the federal government does not do the same thing in other areas, workers in the same province end up with two different labour systems.
As a result, a Quebec worker under federal jurisdiction-depending on where she works-does not have the right to preventative withdrawal from work, even if she and her doctor feel that staying in the workplace might be dangerous for her and the foetus. The only thing she can do is ask for unpaid leave. Quebec law allows her to start by asking to be transferred elsewhere in the business, and if the employer has no job to offer that does not present a risk to her and the foetus, she can stay home and wait for the birth while receiving benefits amounting to 90 per cent of her gross salary.
My point is that the central government should align itself with the other labour systems and conditions set out in the Canada Labour Code. We will see what it does after the committee tables its amendments to the bill and what the minister does with them. The time when there could be two different systems in the same province is over.
I should stress that the federal government's decision to align the federal minimum wage for the workers affected with the minimum wage in the provinces deserves to be acknowledged. This is a historical moment.
Why? This is the labour relations professor in me, who sees values in tracing things back in time. It is in fact interesting to note that, in the early 1900s, the federal government took steps to regulate labour conditions. In 1907, the Lemieux act was passed to try to impose a bargaining system in enterprises that may be generally described as public-oriented or public sector enterprises.
The Lemieux act was challenged. Finally, the Privy Council in London-it had not been patriated yet at the time, in 1925, the act having been passed in 1907-ruled that the provinces should have jurisdiction over labour relations as well as the standards and acts dealing with the relationship between individual workers and businesses within the province.
Ever since, this area has come under provincial jurisdiction, based on the interpretation of the Constitution given by the Privy Council clearly stating that it should be so.
There was one other time in our history when the central government attempted to interfere in this area. It must be recognized that it was for a good cause, at the days when we were still knee deep in the depression and, in the U.S., President Roosevelt was just starting to pull his country out of the slump, if not the recession, with his new deal, establishing the right to organize, a minimum wage and labour standards for workers. I will repeat that, in order to pull his country out of the slump in 1993, the President of the United States of America proposed what we would call today regulations.
To pull Canada out of the slump, a severe slump, with job creation only starting to pick up-in fact, the pre-1929 level of employment was not be regained and clearly exceeded until the war-the Bennett government also came up, in 1935, with a series of measures including legislation on the 48-hour work week and other provisions of the sort.
Basically, as I said, they introduced regulations to ensure that workers get a larger share of wealth so that, in turn, they could spend and get the economy rolling again.
I point this out because, as we know, the current economic talk is to the contrary. So, when you look at history, it is somewhat ironic to see that the government is trying to overcome the current crisis by doing exactly the opposite of what helped us put an end to the Great Depression.
The fact that workers do not get the same treatment in a province, depending on whether they come under provincial or federal jurisdiction, has a negative impact.
I make this comment because, as you know, some challenge the very existence of minimum wage, or want it to be the lowest possible. It is interesting to note that, in a business, competitiveness must not be based on the cost of work.
If we accept that the price of hydro and the cost of basic resources should be the same for all businesses, it only makes sense that the work itself should also be paid the same price, and that competitiveness be based on the ability to organize, to choose good products, to develop them, to innovate, to identify markets and to benefit from them. Productivity should not be based on a form of discrimination affecting the price paid for work.
So, this legislation is a step in the right direction. However, there is an issue that remains unresolved, namely the implementation of federal and provincial minimum wage laws.
One has to realize that, even if there is a minimum wage act in effect, pressures can be exerted on workers so that they do not ask to be paid this minimum wage or, if one does not want to directly contravene the act, one can pay minimum wages to workers and then demand money back under the table.
Such practices have been reported many times. We know they exist. So, any pressure to help restore the balance in favour of workers is welcome. It is important to note that consumption plays a major role in the economy.
As you know, I worked very hard to make sure that all those who can work are able to find jobs and to ensure that job creation is a concern to all. However, when well-paying jobs are not available, people earning minimum wages, and also UI and welfare recipients, help the economy, since their money goes directly into it.
I will just take 30 seconds out to greet you, Mr. Speaker. Is this your first time in the chair, Mr. Speaker? I am talking to you. I believe this is your first time in the chair.