For Immediate Release
31 March, 2023
Newfoundland and Labrador’s minimum wage will increase tomorrow to $14.50 an hour. Sadly, says NDP Leader Jim Dinn, the province’s lowest-paid workers continue to fall further and further behind.
“Just look at the increasing number of people forced to rely on food banks to feed their families. Something is very broken in our economy,” Dinn said today.
“We at the NDP believe the best solution to permanently eradicating poverty is a guaranteed basic livable income,” he added. “All parties in the House of Assembly have committed to working on the issue. Our role is to ensure the committee does not water down the intent of the original NDP motion.”
Labrador West NDP MHA Jordan Brown twice proposed the formation of an all-party committee on GBLI in the provincial House of Assembly; the motion received unanimous support from all MHAs on Nov. 21, 2021. After a year of no action from government, Dinn wrote to the premier demanding the committee be struck. It is now meeting regularly.
The NDP caucus is hopeful that the committee will review and make recommendations on eligibility and minimum income amounts, how the GBLI would interact with existing income supports, additional poverty reduction initiatives, a cost-benefit analysis, and potential models for such a program and a timeline for implementation.
“Any increase in the minimum wage is better than no increase, but a living wage in this province is $21.65 based on the Bank of Canada inflation calculator,” said Dinn. “Jobs that pay minimum wage are often the hardest to do – it is reprehensible that we as a society continue to condemn the people that do those jobs to worsening poverty.”
-30-
For further information, contact Eddy St. Coeur, Director of Communications, NDP Caucus at 729-2137 (o), or eddystcoeur@gov.nl.ca