Faced with inflation, Montreal groups call for higher wages
On this labour day, Montreal groups are asking for better wages, as inflation has people worried about paying their bills.
Demonstrators gathered at Parc Lafontaine in the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough Monday afternoon to demand wages keep up with rising costs.
Atefa Akbary is with the socialism advocacy group La Riposte Syndicale.
She said the current system -- capitalism -- benefits few and disadvantages many.
The protest comes at a time when many large corporations have reported record-high profits.
"As long as we live under a capitalist society, we will continue seeing this: a minority of people getting richer and richer while the majority of workers are being pushed into poverty," she said.
Akbary believes the money is there to fix the housing, health care and education crises in Quebec.
The solution, she says, is to nationalize funds, meaning taking private money and putting it under the control of the government.
"There is money to address all of those single issues but the problem is that the money is in the bank account of corporations," she said. "We need to go and get that money. That money exists."
As the province heads into another election, workers rallying at the park said they want to see the government raise the minimum wage.
"Raise it right now to $18 an hour," said Dominnique Daigneault, president of the CSN union's Montreal council. "It's the minimum to live decently."
Daigneault said she's witnessed how the rising cost of living has impacted workers.
"People are sick. Psychologically and physically."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.