Two Quebec parties promise $15 minimum wage if elected

Family of a missing seven-yearold boy in Saskatchewan have confirmed the child’s body has been found, just over a week after his mother was discovered dead from what relatives have said they believe was a swimming accident.

Greagan Geldenhuys was last seen Aug. 24 with his mother Tamaine Geldenhuys on a beach near the town of Fort Qu’Appelle northeast of Regina.

His mother’s body was found the following day washed up on another beach near a campground about three kilometres away.

Greagan’s uncle, Darcy Pantel, said his nephew’s body was located Sunday morning on a beach, but the family has directed further questions to the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, which has been assisting the family throughout the search.

“There could be more details, but in reality, a mother and son perished after being at the beach on a windy, windy day.

“They were at the beach because they enjoyed being there together,” Pantel posted later Sunday on Facebook. “Our sadness is real. The loss is real.”

RCMP Sgt. Drew Wagner said the body which police believe to be Greagan’s was found by passersby at the same beach on the east end of Echo Lake where the mother’s body was located a week ago.

“It was just a couple walking along the beach, walking their dog,” Wagner said.

Wagner said police don’t suspect foul play in either death but are still investigating. CAQ leader Francois Legault, left, speaks during a press conference as Christian Dube looks on while on a campaign stop in La Prairie, Que., Monday. Dube will be the CAQ candidate for the riding of La Prairie.

Quebec’s campaigning politicians appealed to workers on Labour Day Monday, with two different parties promising to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour.

On Day 12 of the provincial election campaign, Parti Quebecois Leader Jean-Francois Lisee said the starting wage would be raised gradually from the current rate of $12 per hour.

Lisee said his party had always been close to workers, despite the fact that his predecessor, media magnate Pierre Karl Peladeau, presided over lenthy labour disputes with two of the newspapers in his chain.

Peladeau led the party from 2015 to 2016 before quitting politics for family reasons.

Lisee acknowledged that that the party’s pro-worker stance might be more apparent in the absence of its former leader, while denying anything had fundamentally changed with the party that has traditionally been a favourite choice of the province’s unions.

“It might have been harder to see, with the last leader, but the party itself, the members themselves, our closeness towards those who work hard has always been there, and perhaps it’s more apparent now,” Lisee said at a news conference where he also unrolled a plan to create a group insurance plan for the self-employed.

The left-wing party Quebec solidaire also expressed its commitment to a $15 minimum wage, which the party has long called for and would implement in 2019 if elected, co-spokesperson Manon Masse said Monday, detailing the plan.

The party would also invest $100 million per year over five years to help smaller businesses, farmers and community organizations adjust to the change, Masse announced in Gatineau.

Liberal Leader Philippe Couillard, meanwhile, set his sights on regional development with a promise to invest an additional $200 million to extend high speed internet and cell phone coverage in remote areas. That would bring his party’s total investment to $500 million, he said at a campaign stop in Iles-de-la-Madeleine.

Coalition Leader Francois Legault was in the Montreal area, where he announced that former legislature member Christian Dube would leave his job with Quebec’s pension fund manager to run for a seat in the La Prairie riding.

Dube previously represented a different riding in the legislature between 2012 and 2014 before resigning.