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Yellowknife Living Wage campaign kicks off Study finds it takes 20hour to live in the capital Tuesday September 15 2015 3 HEALTH WELLNESS COST OF LIVING Pelican Rapids Inn152 McDougal Road Fort Smith NT Tel 867-872-2789 Fax 867-872-4727 Welcome back students Visit the Pelican Rapids Inns gift shop for aboriginal arts and crafts. Sell your handmade art in our store on commission. The Pelican Rapids Inn is a full-service centrally located facility with restaurant gift shop lounge and nightclub. www.pelicanrapidsinn.com By DALI CARMICHAEL Social justice coalition Alternatives North has launched a new campaign to alleviate nancial pressures on the working poor in Yellowknife. The Yellowknife Living Wage campaign kicked off at the Baker Centre last Wednes- day where the group revealed the citys ideal living wage to be 20.68 an hour for each parent in a family of four. That number was determined by Alberta- based economist Michel Haener who put to- gether a report on the living wage. Haener has also calculated wages for communities in her home province including Canmore Red Deer and Grande Prairie. She noted that Yel- lowknife was the second-most expensive of the regions she has calculated. Those of us who live here know that this is an expensive place to live said Julie Green who headed up the initiative. The cost of housing is very high the cost of childcare is very expensive as well so I wasnt too sur- prised that it came in at that big rate. The living wage is dened as the hourly amount of earning a family needs to cover basic expenses and is calculated based on a national framework used across the nation for continuity. It is used to calculate the wage needed for a two-income family during a 40- hour work week. It accounts for having one child in school and another in care. It also considers other factors including basic ne- cessities food clothing shelter health care and social inclusion among others. Haeners report states that about 1700 peo- ple living in the city or about 10 per cent of the population earn between 13 and 19.99 per hour.Amajorityofthoseearnersareemployed in the service sector and often take on second orthirdjobstokeeptheirfamiliescomfortable. The living wage for a lone parent with one child in Yellowknife is 25.81. For a single adult it is about 19.91. Currently the minimum wage in the NWT is 12.50. Benetting the working poor Now that the people of Yellowknife have access to information regarding the living wage the coalition is working to help out the citys working poor. There are sort of two next steps. One is that the coalition is in the process of growing their people who are looking at passing living wage resolutions Green said. The second thing is to start signing up employers as liv- ing wage employers. The idea is to implement the action quickly and avoid the bogged-down nature of bureau- cratic processes. The Living Wage campaign really has the community taking responsibility for poverty instead of putting it all onto the government Green said. Youre asking employers to pay the living wage and youre asking consum- ers to shop at those places where the living wage is paid. The campaign while new to Canada has been used internationally for some time. LivingWagealthoughitssortofanewterm inCanadaanditsgainedmomentumfairlyre- centlyhasbeenaroundforawhileHaenersaid. Its actually been around since the 1990s in the United States and the United Kingdom. Green who is running for MLA in Yel- lowknife Centre against incumbent Robert Hawkins said the timing of the launch was strategic. We wanted to coincide with the municipal electionbecauseitisacityissueitsacommunity issue she said. People are going to be talking about community issues over the next four or ve weeks and we wanted to make sure that they were talking about this issue too. HOW WE SPEND OUR SOCIAL INCLUSION 22342 20.6 32.546.9 TOTAL ANNUAL EXPENSES 35057 SINGLE ADULT LONE PARENT WITH ONE CHILD COUPLE WITH 2 CHILDREN 59.8 20.1 20.1 41.2 31.8 27.0 54.2 24.5 21.3 52.5 27.9 19.6 45.3 32.0 22.7 59.2 40.8 TRANSPORTATION SA 1900 LP 1900 CC 5627 SOCIAL INCLUSION SA 5969 LP 7021 CC 9109 HEALTH CARE SA 1346 LP 1916 CC 3604 CHILD CARE SA 0 LP 10500 CC 15220 FOOD SA 4754 LP 5464 CC 12124 CLOTHING AND FOOTWEAR SA 1867 LP 2640 CC 3733 55419 80010 SA LP CCSINGLE ADULT LONE PARENT WITH ONE CHILD COUPLE WITH 2 CHILDREN 13.0 4.0 15.1 4 1 4 33.8 5.5 6.5 HEALTH CARE 6866 CHILD CARE 25720 OTHER HOUSEHOLD COSTS 11117 TRANSPORTATION 9427 SHELTER 57708 HOW WE SPEND OUR MONEY SOCIAL INCLUSION 22342 L EXPENSES 35057 SINGLE ADULT LONE PARENT WITH ONE CHILD COUPLE WITH 2 CHILDREN OTHER HOUSEHOLD COSTS SA 2378 LP 3429 CC 5310 38.1 35.5 26.4 59.8 20.1 20.1 47.8 30.8 21.4 54.2 24.5 21.3 7.9 47.5 29.6 22.9 45.3 32.0 22.7 59.2 40.8 SHELTER SA 15250 LP 20484 CC 21974 TRANSPORTATION SA 1900 LP 1900 CC 5627 ARE 46 16 04 CHILD CARE SA 0 LP 10500 CC 15220 FOOD SA 4754 LP 5464 CC 12124 CONTINGENCY SA 1593 LP 2065 CC 3309 CLOTHING AND FOOTWEAR SA 1867 LP 2640 CC 3733 55419 80010 CC ARENT NE CHILD COUPLE WITH 2 CHILDREN 13.0 4.0 15.1 4.1 13.1 4.9 33.8 5.5 6.5 HEALTH CARE 6866 CHILD CARE 25720 OTHER HOUSEHOLD COSTS 11117 TRANSPORTATION 9427 SHELTER 57708 CLOTHING AND FOOTWEAR 8240 FOOD 22342 CONTINGENCY 6967 HOW WE SPEND OUR MONEY SOCIAL INCLUSION 22342 L EXPENSES 35057 SINGLE ADULT LONE PARENT WITH ONE CHILD COUPLE WITH 2 CHILDREN OTHER HOUSEHOLD COSTS SA 2378 LP 3429 CC 5310 38.1 35.5 26.4 59.8 20.1 20.1 47.8 30.8 21.4 54.2 24.5 21.3 .9 47.5 29.6 22.9 45.3 32.0 22.7 59.2 40.8 SHELTER SA 15250 LP 20484 CC 21974 TRANSPORTATION SA 1900 LP 1900 CC 5627 ARE 46 16 04 CHILD CARE SA 0 LP 10500 CC 15220 FOOD SA 4754 LP 5464 CC 12124 CONTINGENCY SA 1593 LP 2065 CC 3309 CLOTHING AND FOOTWEAR SA 1867 LP 2640 CC 3733 55419 80010 CC ARENT NE CHILD COUPLE WITH 2 CHILDREN 13.0 4.0 15.1 4.1 13.1 4.9 33.8 5.5 6.5 HEALTH CARE 6866 CHILD CARE 25720 OTHER HOUSEHOLD COSTS 11117 TRANSPORTATION 9427 SHELTER 57708 CLOTHING AND FOOTWEAR 8240 FOOD 22342 CONTINGENCY 6967 PhotoRobertWilson Alberta-based economist Michel Haerner left and Alternatives Norths Julie Green launch the Yellowknife Living Wage campaign on Sept. 9. based on a dual-income family of four