Mr. Speaker, I thank the minister for his speech. First of all, I want to say that the official opposition will support Bill C-35.
I just discovered that, in his own way, the Minister of Labour follows the principles of Mao Zedong because he proposed several bills in a series that, we know, will culminate in the presentation of a legislation on replacement workers and the more comprehensive reform of the labour code that the minister will propose, naturally.
We must not underestimate the impact, the importance of legislation like this one, because it affects the most vulnerable people in our society.
The minister is right to remind us that the minimum wage issue-and I will get back to this later on-is all about individuals who generally share three characteristics. More often than not they are not protected by a collective agreement. Their jobs are unsure, often in sectors more sensitive to economic contingencies. Moreover, very often these jobs are part time.
It is a good thing the government decided to put an end to a situation that was absurd for two reasons. First of all, the federal government had not increased the minimum wage since 1986; it was still at $4. Later on I will show how this $4 rate ties in with the poverty levels. We had a ridiculous situation where a worker working for a company under federal jurisdiction was not entitled to the same wage as other workers in British Columbia, Newfoundland, and Saskatchewan.
The Minister of Labour, with this bill, is correcting an unfair situation by ensuring that, in a given province, all workers will be entitled to the same minimum wage.
I have looked at this bill carefully. I want to point out that we will reach heaven once we have antiscab legislation and once we have revised as fully as possible the Canada Labour Code, which is very complex, with its three parts. I want to let the minister know that I am deeply interested in these issues. We would be very happy to work in committee, because the labour market is, as we have pointed out, about to undergo major changes.
I need only give my family as an example. I believe it is typical of what is going on in the labour market. My father is almost sixty, and has had only one career. He made an honest living, but has always worked for the same employer. I turned 34 in May-I know I do not look that old-and this is my third career. We know that, by the year 2000, workers will go through five or six careers, and that the employer-employee relationship will be considerably weakened because of the increase in home teleworking.
This means that, as lawmakers, we must look carefully at the protection we want these workers to enjoy.
The minister has introduced a bill that we will support and that covers, if I read right, six main points. To start with, the minimum wage would be harmonized with that in effect in the various provinces, and that we agree with. That is central to the bill and we support it.
Let us remember, for the benefit of our audience, perhaps, the reality of the minimum wage across the country. We have said that the federal minimum wage has not changed since 1986 and stands at $4. It Alberta, the minimum wage is $5, but a distinction is made between workers under l8 and those over 18. This distinction will be done away with. Unless I am wrong, the minister feared, rightly, that it would not stand the test of the Canadian charter of rights. Such distinctions based on age will be tolerated less and less as time goes on.
British Columbia is the wealthiest province. I do not know whether you have been to Vancouver lately, but I have and I was astonished at the meaning of wealth in a province. British Columbia has the smallest debt. There is a correlation between the debt of a province and its ability to provide services. I was surprised to find that in B.C.-to give an example with which I am familiar-25 medications are made available to people with AIDS.
You will understand, then, that this global wealth index is reflected in the minimum wage. It will come as a surprise to no one that the minimum wage in our westernmost province is the highest at $7 per hour.
Prince Edward Island, which expects to have increased its minimum wage three times between 1991 and 1997, will reach the Canadian average of $5.40.
The minimum wage in Manitoba is $5.40; in New Brunswick, it is $5.50; in Nova Scotia, it will be increased from $5.35 to $5.50 in February.
In Mike Harris' Ontario, where, as you know, the situation is not always rosy, the minimum wage is $6.85 but we understand that, with its industrial structure, Ontario may be in a better position than Quebec to support a slightly higher minimum wage.
Quebec's minimum wage is $6.45, but one might think-I do not know if the minister has a scoop on that subject, but there is a rumour going around-it could be increased in the very near future, thanks to the bread and roses operation. This beautiful operation came about because of a willingness to link social awareness and economic awareness.
In Saskatchewan, the minimum wage is $5.35; in Newfoundland, about which we have talked a lot in the House in the last few weeks, it is $4.75; in the Northwest Territories, it is $7 and in the Yukon, $6.86.
So, there is a variety of viewpoints that may appear to be discriminatory toward workers and that cannot be explained. One cannot explain why there are two rates in effect in the same province or territory.
So, the minister has done something useful in proposing a bill aimed at harmonizing the wages that will be in effect on the same territory.
Second, if Bill C-35 is passed, the general rate will apply regardless of occupation, status or work experience, which is also desirable.
Third, there are still people who do piecework and therefore are not paid by the hour. My understanding of the bill is that the minister is making provisions so that, where applicable, an employee will never get less than the minimum wage.
Fourth, as it was said, the minimum wage based on age will not be permitted any more.
And fifth, the federal government-I had some questions about that, but the issue will probably be raised in committee of the whole in a few minutes-retains the authority to clearly set the minimum wage. The minister has been discreet on that matter, but he will be able to explain it, if it is indeed the legislator's intent.
This is essentially what the minister is proposing.
I would be doubly satisfied because, as I have said, we agree with the minister's logic. We are happy to see that the proposed harmonization really provides an increase in the minimum wage, given that the federal government was the jurisdiction with the lowest wage rate. We are happy to see that workers will no longer be discriminated against because of their age.
Of course, this legislation will affect a limited number of workers, as the Code protects only 10 per cent of the workforce. According to department officials, only 2 per cent of those 10 per cent will be affected. So, while we must recognize that the legislation has limited scope, it is important for the workers concerned.
I was pleased to hear the minister saying that, all through his career, which I followed from a distance, he has always stood up for the poor in our society. This awareness was apparent when we discussed the Program for Older Workers Adjustment or issues related to social legislation. The fact is that we witnessed a considerable erosion of what the minimum wage represents in relation to the policies needed to fight poverty.
Let me remind the minister that he should-and perhaps would like to in the coming days-review the report tabled by the National Council of Welfare, as I did last night. The report was tabled in October 1993 and is entitled Incentives and Disincentives to Work .
The National Council of Welfare is an organization which is affiliated with the Department of Human Resources Development and which must regularly report on the evolution of poverty levels.
I simply want to tell you about what the 1993 report said: comparing the reality of the minimum wage in 1976 and in 1992 leads to two findings. In 1976, most people who were paid the minimum wage had an income above the poverty line. In 1992, in every province, the minimum wage was below the poverty line.
It goes without saying that this situation is not the exclusive responsibility of the Minister of Labour, but involves the whole issue of policy directions. But the fact is that, as we speak, the minimum wage in effect in every province is below the poverty line.
This means that, for some people, there is no incentive to work. I often meet, in my riding of Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, in Montreal, people who have difficult choices to make. When they are beneficiaries of income security programs, it is sometimes more advantageous for them, particularly couples with children, to remain on these programs than to work. As a society, we have to have to wonder about this.
I know the Minister of Human Resources Development also has something to say about that, but the fact is that the minimum wage is now below the poverty line.
Let us take 1976 as an example. Collectively speaking, 1976 was a particular year. The minister surely recalls that, in 1976, a very progressive government came to power in Quebec. It is therefore a benchmark I like to refer to. In 1976, in Newfoundland, a person with a salary comparable to the minimum wage had an annual income of $5,200, an amount which was 5 percent above the poverty line.
In 1992, the minimum wage in Newfoundland gave an income of $9,880, which was 74 per cent of the amount needed to be at the poverty line. As you can see, there has been significant erosion of what the minimum wage buys for those who must live with it.
The same thing goes for Prince Edward Island. In 1976, the minimum wage meant an income of $4,992, which was 3 per cent above the poverty line; in 1992, this income was $9,880, or 76 per cent of the amount needed to reach the poverty line. I could give the numbers for all 10 provinces. This is a fact that the Minister of Labour, who invites us to ponder, should not forget.
Without underestimating the scope of Bill C-35, of which the Bloc Quebecois supports both the principle and the self-explanatory references, it would have been interesting if the government had introduced a single bill proposing to harmonize the minimum wage and concrete measures to fight poverty.
Let us never forget that. I hope we shall never discuss social policy or make reference to the minimum wage without keeping in mind that, overall, Canadian society is poorer than ever. There are in Canadian society people who are far from getting richer. Poverty is reaching classes that until now were believed to be protected from it.
I would like to remind the House of what the National Council of Welfare told us in its report last year. It wrote that 4.8 million children, women and men, that is one Canadian out of six, live in poverty. Poverty is defined as spending more than 56 per cent of one's income for basic needs such as clothing, food and housing. A person who spends more than that for basic needs is poor, according to the National Council of Welfare.
One Canadian out of six, or 16 per cent of the Canadian population, is in that situation. We have a fairly precise knowledge of the patterns of poverty. For example, single parent families headed by females are now significantly poorer. In 1994, the poverty rate of single mothers aged less than 65 with children under 18 was 57 per cent.
Now, one Canadian out of six, or 16 per cent of the population, lives in poverty, but the situation is much worse in certain segments of our society. We know that 57 per cent of lone-parent families headed by women with children under 18 years of age live in poverty. There is something very worrisome about this grim reality.
I appreciate the work done by the National Council of Welfare, because it showed us some possible ways to eradicate poverty. Since we have two ministers sitting side by side, two ministers from Montreal, which is quite something, who are committed to promoting liberty and equality, I want to take this opportunity to remind the House that the National Council of Welfare indicated that, if the Canadian government had invested $15 billion, we would have been able to eradicate poverty in just one year. Since I cannot say that to the Reform Party, I have to tell the government majority.
I am now quoting, for the listening enjoyment of the Minister of Labour, the National Council of Welfare: "In spite of the grim reality, it is not wishful thinking to think we will win the war against poverty. According to Statistics Canada, to help all the poor improve their lot would have cost $15 billion in 1994". This is a huge amount. Of course, we are not saying this is insignificant, but it is surely not exaggerated for a country where the federal, provincial and territorial governments spent some $350 billion in 1994 and where the value of all produced goods and services exceeded $750 billion. Is this not a reason to be hopeful? Should this not be the way to go?
It would have been very interesting for the Minister of Labour to put forward with this legislation a more general one providing job creation and full employment measures aimed at getting people out of poverty.
To conclude, I ask for the unanimous consent to refer Bill C-35 to a committee of the whole after the intervention of the Reform Party.