McKenney, Chiarelli promising 'fair wage' policy for city contracts if elected mayor

Ottawa City Hall (File photo).

Two mayoral candidates say they would enact a “fair wage” policy for the city of Ottawa, if elected this October.

Coun. Catherine McKenney said in a news release Monday—marking Labour Day—that the policy would apply to companies seeking contracts to work with the city, such as construction companies, cleaners, and others.

“With a Fair Wage Policy, bidders for City contracts will have to compete on the quality of work they can do, rather than how low they can push down costs at the expense of workers,” the release said.

Former Ottawa mayor Bob Chiarelli also made a fair wage pledge, posting on social media that he would call on council to institute such a policy.

Speaking to CTV News Ottawa by phone, McKenney said the policy, once enacted, would be embedded within the procurement process.

“When a company bids, that fair wage would be baked into the bid,” they explained.

Finding out what a “fair wage” is would be part of the process of studying and implementing such a policy, they said.

“It would be tied to the cost of living, the cost of housing,” McKenney said. “Every municipality has to determine for itself what a fair wage is.”

They expect it would take between six months and a year to study what a fair wage would be and how to integrate it into the city’s procurement process so that it could be presented to city council for a vote.

Staff would determine how such a policy would be enforced, McKenney said.

McKenney added that voters concerned about an increased burden to taxpayers shouldn’t expect to see an impact to their property taxes.

“What I’m hearing is how unaffordable life has become and this policy would help ensure that the workers doing contract work for the city are paid a fair wage,” they said.

In a statement to CTV News Ottawa, Chiarelli’s campaign said he would model the policy after those in Toronto and Hamilton.

“It would prohibit the City of Ottawa from doing business with contractors and suppliers who discriminate against their workers,” Chiarelli said. “The contractors and sub-contractors under this policy would be required to pay their employees at or above designated wage levels.”

He added that the city would investigate complaints and take action when it is determined a contractor has failed to pay its workers a prescribed hourly wage, vacation and holiday pay, and other applicable benefits.

The city of Toronto’s fair wage policy, for example, is administered by its fair wage office, which investigates complaints and takes enforcement action if a contractor is found to have paid its workers less than the prescribed fair wages and benefits.

According to the city of Ottawa, its supply service administers more than $1 billion annually in purchases of goods, services, and construction.

Under the city’s supplier code of conduct and ethical purchasing policy, workers involved in manufacturing products supplied to the City of Ottawa “will be paid wages and benefits for a standard working week, at a minimum, national legal standards or industry benchmark standards, whichever is higher.”