Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like today to talk about wages or, more properly, lack of appropriate wages in some instances. Last October in a Member’s statement I spoke about the NWT minimum wage; how we lag far behind the minimum wages established in other Canadian jurisdictions and of the need for the NWT to increase the minimum wage dollar amount. Has anything changed? Well, I don’t know. In October the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment advised that he would investigate the issue, so I look forward to his update and answer to my questions later on.
Women make up over half of our population and these days, especially in the North, most women are employed in the workforce. Eighty-six percent of women between the ages of 25 and 54 are in paid jobs. Yet women still do not have wage parity with men. In fact, it’s getting worse, not better.
A woman performing the same full-time work as a man will earn only 70 cents for the same dollar earned by a man. Women do not receive equal pay for work of equal value.
Most people know that a massive economic stimulus bill is being considered by our politicians in Ottawa at the moment. It’s being fast tracked and is close to passage. Why am I talking about the federal budget? Well, included in this Omnibus Budget Implementation Act is a bill called the Public Sector Equitable Compensation Act with amendments which, if passed, will put the hard-won rights of Canadian women back 40 years. It transforms pay equity into an equitable compensation issue, one that must be discussed at the employer-union bargaining table.
It will remove the right of public sector workers to file pay equity complaints with the Canadian Human Rights Commission and it would actually impose a $50,000 fine on any union or union member for encouraging or assisting their own members in filing a pay equity complaint. Since it is women who, in most cases, earn less than men, this change will knowingly impact the financial situation of women. All non-monetary amendments to acts, especially the Public Sector Equitable Compensation Act, must be removed from Bill C-10 and debated separately.
So what can be done in the NWT to improve the lot of women who work? We can ensure effective pay equity laws and use them to bring women’s wages to the same level as men’s. We can lobby for a national publicly funded not-for-profit daycare program. Statistics show that women working part
time earn considerably less in wages and pension benefits than men and suffer from an economic inequality. We can reinstate or enhance funding to women’s organizations, organizations which effectively fight for fairness for women. And last but not least we can increase minimum wage to $10 per hour and index it to inflation. That brings me back to where I started today, Mr. Speaker. I will have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment at the appropriate time. Thank you.