FREDERICTON – It’s time for the Alward government to break its silence on its plans for minimum wage, the Official Opposition Labour critic says.

Chris Collins, who is also the MLA for Moncton East, says it’s time for Premier David Alward and Post-Secondary Training, Education and Labour Minister Martine Coulombe to let businesses – and workers – know what’s in store for April 1.

“This government has already delayed a scheduled increase to the minimum wage once,” Collins noted. “The fact that the business community hasn’t received any formal notification of a potential April 1 increase doesn’t bode well for minimum wage earners in this province.”

The Alward government breached the terms of the Poverty Reduction Plan last summer by delaying the scheduled September 1 minimum wage increase, which would have brought the rate up to the Atlantic average of $10/hour. At that time, the Alward government promised it would revisit the issue on April 1 after carrying out a public consultation.

With just a little over a month to go before the April 1 deadline, Collins said, government has yet to even release the results of the minimum wage survey it carried out last fall.

“To our knowledge, that survey was the only public consultation carried out on minimum wage,” Collins added. “By failing to release the results by now, they’re putting minimum wage and poverty reduction on the back burner once again.”

Collins is calling on Minister Coulombe to come clean on her government’s plans for minimum wage once and for all.

“Is this government finally going to do the right thing and increase the minimum wage, as it should have done on September 1? Or is this government going to continue to disregard the Poverty Reduction Plan? New Brunswickers deserve to know.”

Media Contact: Hillary Casey, Office of the Official Opposition