Mr. Speaker, there is quite a bit of research out there. As I said earlier, the government's own federal labour standards review in 2006 recommended that the government reinstate the federal minimum wage review. There is also very strong empirical evidence that increasing the minimum wage decreases income inequality. Surely my colleagues across the way want to support that—not.
There is also robust literature indicating that modest increases in the minimum wage have no meaningful impact on employment and also help to improve our social fabric.
I am getting tired of hearing that it only affects a few. When we look at percentages, maybe it looks like a few, but when we are looking at close to 100,000 workers, surely at that stage it is worth it. If it is not that big a deal and only affects 100 workers, as I heard someone mumbling, then I would say that even for that it is worth it. I do not know why the sky-is-falling argument is being used by the other side.
Once again, maybe we should all stop and think to see what our lives would look like if we made $12 an hour.