NDP MPP Cheri DiNovo said she’s happy the Conservatives and Liberals backtracked on their opposition to her Private Member’s Bill, the $10 Minimum Wage Act – and warns the McGuinty government that she will not let the Bill die quietly at the committee stage.

“This is a major step forward for the thousands of hard-working women and men who are stuck in poverty thanks to the McGuinty Liberals low minimum wage. But it’s only a first step,” said DiNovo, “If Dalton McGuinty thinks this bill will quietly die at the committee stage he’s mistaken.”

This morning Bill 150 – the $10 Minimum Wage Act passed second reading. The Bill would raise the minimum wage in Ontario to $10 an hour for most workers.

While Ontario is Canada’s second wealthiest province, too many families can't keep their children out of poverty. The minimum wage has fallen in real terms to a level that people can’t live on. Thirty years ago the minimum wage was almost enough to keep a family above the poverty line– today a single mother working for minimum wage in Toronto would have to work 77 hours a week to keep a family of three out of poverty. Several other jurisdictions have minimum wages above ten dollars an hour and still have prosperous economies that create jobs.

Dalton McGuinty has stated opposition to the Bill, but today in the Legislature the McGuinty Liberals supported it.

“This is one Liberal flip-flop I’m happy to see,” said DiNovo. “I hope Liberal MPPs will continue to defy the Premier and support this Bill as it heads to Committee.”