Mr. Speaker, more and more Canadians with full-time jobs are struggling to make ends meet. They make minimum wage, yet they still live under the poverty line. This is unacceptable in a country like ours, and it is fuelling the Living Wage movement that is gaining momentum in my riding of Hamilton Centre and all across North America.
Living Wage Hamilton, in partnership with the Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction, McMaster Community Poverty Initiative, the Social Planning and Research Council, Workforce Planning Hamilton, and the Hamilton and District Labour Council, is leading the calI for a $15-per-hour minimum wage in Hamilton. A living wage would ensure that someone who works a 35-hour workweek has enough income to live above the poverty line, and it would have significant impacts on reducing child poverty, improving health, and stimulating our local economy
The new NDP government in Alberta has pledged to raise the minimum wage in that province to $15 by 2018, and New Democrats here have committed to a $15-an-hour federal minimum wage.
I am proud to support the Living Wage Hamilton campaign. Together we can ensure that all workers earn enough to live with dignity and respect.