Mr. Speaker, as was mentioned earlier, the minimum wage rates range from $10 to $11 per hour, with $10 being the minimum wage for New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, and $11 an hour in both Nunavut and Ontario. This is the provincial jurisdiction.
One of the benefits of saying yes to the motion would be that we could illustrate that a $15 per hour minimum wage would be a noble thing to get to. However, let us also keep in mind that when it comes to small businesses, they have to be consulted. This is why the tripartite model in this situation would be a worthy exercise.
I do not know if that was addressed by the members in the party moving the motion. I hope they would agree with this tripartite way of dealing with something like this, including small business owners. It would be a responsible thing for them to do rather than just saying that we need to up the wage and whatever the business owners feel about, that is just too bad, it has to be paid.
I would hope this proposal would come with a great deal of respect. I may be blindfully optimistic, but I like to think that I support the motion for all the right reasons.