A Roman Catholic nun has made an impassioned plea to Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams to make good on anti-poverty election pledges.

'To deprive the poor, leaving them powerless, wounds the whole community,' Sister Mary Tee told the minimum wage review committee.
(CBC)

"What benefit is an economy which provides some people with the income to make them great consumers while leaving others only with the yearning for a more just lifestyle?" Sister Mary Tee told a government committee reviewing the province's minimum wage Tuesday.

Tee, who works with the Sisters of Mercy in St. John's, cited election promises that Williams made to address income disparities, particularly in rural communities.

"To deprive the poor, leaving them powerless, wounds the whole community. Such unrest threatens the social cohesion of our towns and communities," said Tee, who spoke on behalf of the Make Work Pay Coalition, a group of social action activists.

"We are beginning to see that here in our province so many robberies, violent acts, so much fear."

John Peddle said employers need time to implement increases to the minimum wage.
(CBC)

Tee brought the issue down to the premier himself.

"Our premier on the night of his election was clear in saying the poor will share in the prosperity of our province and that they will not be left behind."

Newfoundland and Labrador has said it plans to finish the current fiscal year with an $881-million surplus, largely because of high oil prices. With a fourth field expected to go into production, the province is expecting to benefit from a strong economy.

However, the province is already grappling with labour shortages, as workers migrate to other provinces for higher wages. The government will raise the minimum wage to $8 from $7.50 in April, but is already considering another set of scheduled increases, bringing the wage to $10 within another two years.

Labour activist Lana Payne said the province can afford it.

"We have had the lowest unemployment rate in 25 years last year, the highest employment rate in three decades," she told a government panel at Tuesday's hearing in St. John's, the last in a series of consultations across the province.

'Longer period of time'

About 15,000 people are estimated to work in minimum wage jobs.

Labour Minister Shawn Skinner expects to deliver a recommendation to cabinet this spring.
(CBC)

But John Peddle, speaking on behalf of the Newfoundland and Labrador Employers' Association, cautioned against raising the wage too quickly and too soon.

"If government is set on having [a] $2-increase, going to $10 by 2010, [then employers] want a longer period of time to adjust so they can adjust their cost, adjust their prices, adjust their workforces and so on," said Peddle, the executive director of the province's Health Boards Association.

Labour Minister Shawn Skinner, who heard the presentations, said he expects to make a recommendation to cabinet in the spring.

"There's going to be a fair amount of reflection by myself and my committee on those kinds of pieces of information that have been brought forward," he said.