'It was certainly not my intent to disrespect them, but my intent doesn't matter'
Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston has apologised for his remarks last week, where he seemingly implied that minimum wage jobs aren’t "real jobs." Houston made the comments when he was asked about the $12.95 minimum wage in the province by New Democratic Party Leader Gary Burrill.
"I don't know many Nova Scotians that grow up thinking, 'Boy, I hope I make minimum wage when I grow up.' That's not the way people think, they want real jobs," Houston said as quoted by CBC.
Houston later apologised for what he described was a careless comment, saying that he meant to say a "better job."
"It was certainly not my intent to disrespect them, but my intent doesn't matter. My words have an impact and I understand the impact of my words so they hurt a lot of people and I sincerely apologise for that and to all Nova Scotians," he said.
He added that he has great respect for jobs in this province and he will be "more careful with his words."
Yesterday I misspoke on the floor of the House of Assembly.
— Tim Houston (@TimHoustonNS) November 5, 2021
I am sorry for those words and that I hurt people with them.
I have the greatest respect for the workers of NS, especially those making minimum wage.
I will do better and be more careful with my words in the future. pic.twitter.com/3m8rnRREMv
His apology was a reiteration of a similar one he made the day before, but Burrill said that while he has rightly apologised, his words do not really mean much if he does not increase minimum wage in the province.
Read more: Wages in Canada to go up next year, says employers
"But an apology without action doesn't really amount to much," Burrill added. "And so, I want to ask the premier if he will take advantage of this important moment as we're focusing on this subject to take action now and increase the wages of the 40,000 real people working their real minimum wage jobs in Nova Scotia."
Houston did not directly reply to Burrill's call, but said they are acting on every area that they can.
"We all want better-paying jobs for every Nova Scotian," he said. "We absolutely agree on that, but what I would say is we're taking actions. We're taking action in every area that we can."
Burrill's party has long proposed an increase to the minimum wage in Nova Scotia to $15. The debate on the topic recently came up again after a recent report revealed that the $12.95 an hour is not enough to afford to live in the province.
