Mr. Speaker, I would like to present a petition to the House signed by close to 100 people from the wonderful province of Alberta.
The petitioners are asking the government to move on a bill put forward by the member for Parkdale—High Park to reinstate a federal minimum wage of $10 an hour. They note in the preamble that the federal minimum wage was eliminated in 1996 by the then Liberal government. The petitioners feel that this would be a move in the right direction to give those who work in our country at least a wage that would get them to a place where their nose is just above the poverty line.
The petitioners are not suggesting for a second that this is the be all to end all, but it certainly would set a target that others could aspire to in terms of best practice for labour standards across the country and a minimum wage.