Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My statement today is about the Department of Education, Culture and Employment proposal for minimum wage adjustment, specifically to the committee that has been established by the Minister to review the NWT minimum wage.
Don’t get me wrong, Mr. Speaker. I’m very glad the Minister sees the need for a regular review for the minimum wage, but I can’t agree with the Minister’s suggestion to strike a committee to review and set regulations.
I feel it’s overly bureaucratic and, quite simply, unnecessary. I have concerns with both the makeup of the committee and the length of the proposed terms for committee members. As was originally proposed, the Minimum Wage Adjustment Committee would be comprised of five members: one business owner, one employee and three GNWT employees.
Since the announcement of the committee makeup, two groups have written to the Minister expressing their concerns. Both Alternatives North and the Northern Territory Federation of Labour voiced their disapproval of the committee makeup. I’m pleased that the Minister has responded positively to those concerns. Both the NWT Chamber of Commerce and the Northern Territory Federation of Labour have been in invited to appoint a member to that committee. They are a business and labour organization respectively. Alternatives North has been invited to submit a nomination for committee member. Whether that means they will have representation on the committee or whether they are invited to nominate a candidate who will be considered along with all other candidates is not clear to me. The other three committee members are proposed to be GNWT employees.
But seriously, Mr. Speaker, what do our employees know about the impacts of minimum wage? I don’t think this will be in the realm of their experience. It’s best stated by Ben McDonald of Alternatives North who wrote, “We consider that the committee should have a more diverse representation including a labour representative and an individual who has lived in poverty.” That said, Mr. Speaker, if this committee is structured properly, they would set the minimum wage at a living wage rate, make themselves redundant and we wouldn’t need a committee anymore.
Both Alberta and the Yukon currently peg the annual increases to the minimum wage to the Consumer Price Index. Minimum wage concerns are addressed to the Employment Standards Board or the Department of Labour. It’s a great system that works well for them and it could work well for us. I fail to understand why the NWT has created an extra level of bureaucracy and paperwork.
We say we strive for efficiency in government. This is a step towards inefficiency, in my view. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.
