Moral imperatives

January 28, 2007 – The heading of the main editorial in the Toronto Star today read, “10 dollar minimum wage is a moral imperative”, and it almost immediately reminded me of Al Gore’s quote that the issue of global warming ‘isn’t a poltical issue, but rather a moral issue.’

It seems that a growing number of moral imperatives are being presented to us on a daily basis. Social and biological forces that have can no longer ‘be ignored or put aside’, most notably, ecological collapse, global warming, and poverty.

The great thing about moral imperatives is that the answers are usually simple and straightforward.

However, politicians like Ontario Finance Minister Greg Sorbara know how to confuse the issue. Sorbara used the number of 66,000 to describe the number of jobs that would be lost if the minimum wage were increased to $10/hour in Ontario. The problem was that he refused to disclose his source for coming up with number, and there is a lack of credible information which backs up Mr.Sorbara’s argument.

The $10 dollar minimum wage is no doubt a good first step towards alleviating poverty and inequality, but begs the question, how can we actually do something about poverty? Well, according to a survey from the National Council of Welfare, we could take steps in Canada to alleviate poverty by implementing a guaranteed annual income, more affordable housing and childcare, and better education.

The survey involved more than 5,000 individuals and 423 organizations representing more than 1 million members. Using Statistics Canada's before-tax low-income cut-off to define poverty, the survey that almost 5 million Canadians are struggling on low-wage jobs, welfare, disability benefits or limited pensions.

At a policy conference in Vancouver, Elizabeth May, called for a guaranteed minimum income program that would combine federal, provincial and municipal poverty reduction programs into a single cheque. “If we were to take all those programs and eliminate them, the tax savings to the public are huge,” said May.

It would make sound financial sense and shed layers of lumbering bureaucracy, claims Ms. May, noting that, “We’re a very wealthy country. We should be able to eliminate poverty.”

And I agree. When it comes to poverty, a guaranteed minimum income is the right thing to do. Currently, it’s not official Green Party policy, but more than likely will be soon.

As for the other moral imperative, we need to address climate change head on by immediately:

• Taxing carbon emissions and elimintating subsidies to the fossil fuel industry
• Regulating to drastically improve the fuel efficiency in vehicles
• Expanding programs for renewable energy.

Addressing climate change head on and tackling poverty in a meaningful way, are two ways to deal with the mounting number of moral imperatives that we face. Stay tuned, more to come.

Choose the future,

Mike McLean