Nickel and Dimed in Ontario

 

Twenty years ago Barbara Ehrenreich became an undercover journalist in the low-wage economy. She wanted to find out whether people could survive, let alone thrive, making minimum wage or a little more. She discovered the desperate circumstances of millions in the United States who lived the grinding reality of precarious and under-paid employment. In her book, Nickel and Dimed she awakens to the fact that much of this work is skilled, even though it is often described as unskilled, and that much of it is physically demanding. 

In 2018 Ontarians elected a government which declared itself "for the people,"which apparently excludes those who are the under-paid workers of our province. In the past couple of days we've been informed that the promise of a $15 an hour minimum wage is no more. The latest is the prospect of repealing legislation to provide sick day and pay equity protections granted to Ontario workers earlier this year. Add in the cancellation of the guaranteed income trial project and we have even more evidence that "for the people" does not apply to those who are struggling at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder.

As Hugh Segal, a former Conservative Senator has put it:

 Inclusive government seeking to be fair to the entire community is more easily promised than delivered. Especially when some on the far left or far right view “fairness” as a code word used by elites to camouflage pandering to various special interests. The new Ontario government is obviously deeply challenged on the issue of fairness, especially in defining its core electoral slogan, “For the People.”

As a Christian I follow a Jewish peasant who understood the uncertainty of work in his culture and often told parables which made sense to those who were just getting by. His vision for shalom was egalitarian rather than hierarchical and privileged. I hope that communities of faith continue to speak truth to the power of Premier Doug Ford and his government.

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