The Liberal Social Injustice Premier and The Fight for A Livable Minimum Wage

A joint statement from the Communist Party of Canada (Ontario) and the YoungCommunist League (Ontario)

Last year, Premier Wynne said she wanted to be Ontario’s “social justice Premier”.  She said she would take action to increase social assistance rates and to raise the minimum wage. 

But her inaction on starvation level social assistance rates, and her decision to permanently embed a poverty level minimum wage, is earning her the title of Ontario’s social injustice Premier.

Wynne’s government is following other Liberal and Tory governments in Canada:  to drive down wages and living standards, attack labour and democratic rights, reduce taxes on the corporations and the rich, cut services and privatize, privatize, privatize.

No Friends in the Legislature

The Liberals have been all too happy to parrot the policies put forward by corporate employers and their lobby groups. This includes the Retail Council of Canada, which is supported by Toys ‘R’ Us, and the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association, which represents Tim Hortons and McDonald’s.

The very modest $14 minimum wage being fought for by youth, labour, anti-poverty and social justice groups around the province, has no friends in the Legislature.  The NDP is non-committal.  The Tories would eliminate the minimum wage altogether if they could (in keeping with the right-to-work-for-less legislation they want for Ontario).   The Liberals want to make sure the minimum wage is wrapped in cement, never rising beyond the annual inflation rate. 

Raise the Minimum Wage Campaign pays visits to 50 Ontario MPPs [Video]

From the "Raise the Minimum Wage" website:

On November 14, the Campaign to Raise the Minimum Wage spearheaded a province-wide day of action where students, labour activists and community members visited Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs) urging them to support a $14 minimum wage for all workers.

Across Ontario, community members organized visits with well over half of all sitting MPPs in Ontario and presented cheques for $5 billion – the amount a $14 minimum wage would put back into workers’ pockets.

On dozens of campuses, students organized outreach blitzes and joined MPP delegation visits – supported by the Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario.