Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
The current leader of the Liberal Party, the leader of the official opposition, was at the time in the cabinet that passed the order eliminating the federal minimum wage and has to take some responsibility for the poverty that has resulted as a consequence.
What has happened is that Canada has fallen from first to sixth on the UN's human development index because of the increase in poverty in this country. Shame.
As more and more working and middle income Canadians are being pushed to the edge of poverty, the fact is that the growing prosperity gap is something that requires our immediate attention.
It is time to make life fair and affordable for Canadians. The $10 an hour federal minimum wage would do this.
I am saddened to hear the Bloc, those members who are all talk and no action. They are saying that they do not want to support a $10 minimum wage for federal employees working in Quebec under a federal system. I am sorry to hear that and I hope I misunderstood.
Jean Charest's policy now is to establish the minimum wage at $8 an hour. We are proposing an increase for federally governed sectors and the Bloc is rejecting this proposal. The workers in these sectors will have to remain in their state of poverty because of how the Bloc votes. I hope they will change their mind before the vote.