Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my statement I noted more than once that the minimum wage in the NWT has remained stagnant since 2003. I’d like to ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment or whichever Minister is appropriate, because I’m not absolutely positive, why there’s been no adjustment to the minimum wage in the NWT in the last five years.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The minimum wage for the Northwest Territories, as the Member indicated, is $8.25 per hour. It has been for, as she indicated also, the last five years. It hasn’t been brought to my attention about increasing the minimum wage in the Northwest Territories by any other Members until today, so I can certainly look further into this with my department on the status. With the previous discussions that we’ve had, if there was an agreement in place that after five years there was going to be another increase, certainly I can look into that and provide the Member with more information.
I appreciate the answer from the Minister. I guess I’m a little surprised that it’s a necessity for Members to bring these items to the attention of Ministers. I would hope in five years that the minimum wage would be a consideration for at least one department. It’s unfortunate that we have to force the government to consider the plight of some of our people who are living at the lowest level of income.
I’d like to ask the Minister: now that it’s been brought to his attention, when can we expect a change in the minimum wage?
Mr. Speaker, as I stated, I need to sit down with my department to find out where things are at. I can’t really give a specific time as to when there are going to be changes, because I need to present to the committee as well if there are going to be proposed changes.
With any proposed changes there are always cost factors as well. We need to identify how much it will cost us to increase the minimum wage and put that forward, whether it be to the committee or the Cabinet. That is the work we need to undertake. I’m willing to do that with my department, to look into that further and see where we can go with this: the last five years, what’s been discussed, and today.
I appreciate the Minister’s answer and that it does require a certain amount of time, but I don’t know how anybody, let alone myself or the Minister, can expect anybody to live on $8.25 an hour when they’re working. There’s absolutely no way anybody can survive on that. I appreciate that it does take time, but I think time is of the essence here, and it behoves the Minister to try and push this along.
I realize he can’t give me a specific date, but we have business plans coming forward in another month. I think that if it was the will of the department to put it forward, we could see it in the plans next month. Will we see a change to the minimum wage — upward, not downward — in the business plans upcoming?
Mr. Speaker, I did commit to the House that I will look into this with my department. Bringing that forward before the next business plan? I can’t really commit to that at this time, but I can certainly work with what we have within our department. If we need to bring it forward to part of the standing committee, then we’ll certainly do that and move forward. If it needs to be before the business plans, that’s another question we need to address.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the willingness on the part of the Minister to try and push things forward. I think that is something that is absolutely necessary. I’ve totally lost my train of thought. You could just say yes, Mr. Minister. Will you say yes?
Mr. Speaker, I can certainly say yes to working with the Member and the Members on the other side. I am willing to work with my department and bring forward what we have to date and share it with the committee. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.
