The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
A worker advocacy group calling on the province to boost the minimum wage has the majority of Manitobans on its side. A new poll found that 64 per cent of Manitobans believe the minimum wage of $7 an hour is too low, and the Just Income Coalition couldn't agree more. "I'm heartened by what Manitobans think about their fellow Manitobans and the impossible situation of trying to support their family on minimum wage," coalition spokesman Wayne Helgason told the Winnipeg Free Press. Helgason told the newspaper that he would like to see the minimum wage boosted to $9 an hour over the next three or four years. A full-time minimum wage earner currently makes $14,560 a year, before taxes. A $9 minimum wage would bump that figure up to $18,720, before taxes. The new poll showed that 32 per cent of the 1,002 respondents feel the current minimum wage is adequate, while two per cent believe it's too high and another two per cent didn't know. Manitoba has the seventh-highest minimum wage in Canada. Here is the minimum wage in each province, as of Sept. 1: 1. Nunavut - $8.50 2. Northwest Territories - $8.25 3. British Columbia - $8 4. Quebec - $7.45 5. Yukon - $7.20 6. Ontario - $7.15 7. Manitoba - $7 8. Saskatchewan - $6.65 9. Prince Edward Island - $6.50 10. Nova Scotia - $6.50 11. New Brunswick, - $6.20 12. Newfoundland and Labrador - $6 13. Alberta - $5.90
