Administration could be working on a way to make Thunder Bay a living wage employer.
Pending ratification at the November 22nd City Council meeting, the elected officials voted unanimously to have staff look at committing the city to bringing full time permanent employees, in a phased approach, to the current living wage of $16.30/hour.
At-Large Councillor Aldo Ruberto brought forward the motion Monday, noting “poverty affects addiction, poverty affects crime, poverty costs $60 billion a year to our country. So when we say we have to invest dollars in a living wage, we’re actually going to save dollars in the long run.”
The motion followed a presentation of the annual poverty reduction strategy report from Bonnie Krysowaty with the Lakehead Social Planning Council, which came with four recommendations for council to adopt:
- Maintain annual financial support for the work of the Thunder Bay Poverty Reduction Strategy
- Actively participate in local poverty reduction by becoming a member of the Thunder Bay Living Wage Campaign
- Support the Thunder Bay Tiny Homes Committee with donations and/or reduced costs of infrastructure to build tiny homes in the city
- Incorporate the principles and recommendations of the Poverty Reduction Strategy to guide decision-making aimed at reducing and eliminating homelessness and poverty in the community
“We can’t afford to have people living in poverty any longer, it costs each Ontarian roughly $3,000 per year,” stressed Krysowaty. “When we’re asking people to budget with $1,000 a month when their bills are $2,000 a month it’s impossible. People living in poverty find it insulting when we ask them to budget better because there just isn’t the money to budget, and as a result, they fall behind.”
Making Thunder Bay a living wage employer would impact 267 employees of the corporation, including fitness attendants, crossing guards and concession workers.
