Ordinary Canadians want a $10 federal minimum wage

Ordinary Canadians want a $10 federal minimum wage

TORONTO-A new poll shows that up to three out of four Canadians believe that the minimum wage should be at least $10 an hour. According to NDP MP Peggy Nash (Parkdale High Park), this is just one more indication that the federal government must take the lead when it comes to giving hardworking Canadians a living wage.

Nash currently has a bill before the House of Commons to reinstate a federal minimum wage at $10 an hour.

“The federal minimum wage was abandoned by the previous Liberal government over 10 years ago,” said Nash. “Now the current government has a clear choice: take the lead and provide a decent wage for working people or continue to take the wrong side, and discard the will of the vast majority of Canadians.”

The poll, conducted by Vector Poll, shows that 74% favoured raising the minimum wage to $10 an hour and was released on March 13 by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE).

“This poll confirms that ordinary Canadians believe what we have been saying all along,” said Nash. “In a just society, no one working full time, for a full year should be living in poverty.”

NDP Leader Jack Layton has made raising the minimum wage and closing growing prosperity gap for working and middle-class Canadians a top NDP budget priority. Layton has called on the government to use the upcoming federal budget to help close the prosperity gap.

Peggy Nash and her provincial counterpart, NDP MPP Cheri DiNovo, have made Parkdale’ High Park ground zero in the fight for a $10 an hour minimum wage. DiNovo has introduced Bill 150 in the Ontario Legislature, hoping to raise the provincial rate.

(PRESS RELEASE)