Combatting inflation is not 'just about minimum wage': N.S. finance minister
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NDP Leader Claudia Chender, meanwhile, said the government should raise the minimum wage "immediately" and get as close as possible to a living wage.
Chender pointed to a protest on Thursday by some early childhood educators drawing attention to the need for a long overdue raise in that sector as an example of how many people struggle to make ends meet.
"This government is failing to address the cost of living at all and this is a place where they have a direct lever and one that they can pull at any time," she told reporters.
The swift action by the government earlier this year to provide significant raises to continuing care assistants shows it can be done, said Chender, and she accused the government of caring more about "job creators" than workers.
"Of course we need to have a good economy and we need jobs and we need small businesses, but people also need to be able to eat and that should, fundamentally, be our priority."
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Chender said it is the government's role to set a wage floor and act when that floor is no longer enough for people to make ends meet. In this case, she charged, the government's priority seems to be making sure "their friends are taken care of and don't suffer too much hardship."“