Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The last minimum wage report was never made public, and I understand the Minister's position and he told the committee that the work they would do would remain confidential. But I understand that we're now looking at reviewing the minimum wage again. And I just don't want to be standing here at that time asking that question once again.
So can the Minister speak to what the process is going forward for the next minimum wage review? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Generally what happens is every two years the minimum wage committee is struck, and it does a review of the environment in the territory and produces some recommendations for the Minister in regards to the minimum wage. The department mentioned to me that they were embarking on that process again and I said, just wait. I'm not sure if that's the route I want to go.
The committee does a lot of great work, and I appreciate the work the members put in but, you know, given the criticism by the Members about that process, I might be taking a different approach. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I'm sure the Minister will keep us apprised of his different approach.
One of the things I would really like the Minister to look into is tieing our minimum wage to inflation. I know we have the second highest right now, but we're kind of in a tie with Yukon and BC and it looks like Yukon's going to pass us on April 1 when inflation goes up. And so we're kind of in this constant battle where we have a political choice to raise the minimum wage as opposed to many jurisdictions who just automatically raise it with inflation. Is pegging the minimum wage to the consumer price index or an inflationary measure something the Minister is willing to do? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We haven't done that in the past, and I don't want to speak for the previous Ministers, but when I was elected, that year minimum wage was $10. I've only been here six years. So it went from $10 up to $15.20 in a relatively short amount of time. So we far outstripped the rises to CPI or inflation. And so we haven't been in a position where we would want to do that. You know, if this is seen as adequate right now, this minimum wage, then it would make sense to tie it to the CPI. But I'm not sure if this is adequate. You know, there needs to be a bit more analysis. So am I willing to look at that? Yes, we always look at that. The minimum wage committee has traditionally looked at that. But it's just one factor that we have to consider. Thank you.
Yeah, thank you, Mr. Speaker. I spoke earlier that we lost the wage topup program which brought many workers up to $18 an hour, and then I think this year we are going to see one of the highest inflations Canadians have seen in years, and the cost of living is not getting any cheaper in the North. I just worry that, you know, we in the NWT are heading down a path where making a living wage is just getting harder and harder for other people.
Can the Minister speak to what plans the department has to ensure that NWT workers are making a decent wage that, you know, keeps the pace of the cost of living and inflation? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And that responsibility is not mine alone. That is really all of government needs to work to ensuring that. We need to ensure that we have an adequate housing stock so that the rents are affordable. We need to ensure that, you know, our economy is robust so people can find jobs. So the minimum wage, people have to remember, it's a minimum standard. You know, this is an employee's market in the Northwest Territories. Our wages, on average, are much higher than the minimum wage. It's a very small proportion of the population, and a young portion of the population, that is making minimum wage. So minimum wage is not the tool to get to a living wage. Thank you.
