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9 | O akville B eaver | T hursday,N ovem ber 15,2018 insidehalton.com Foot & Health Clinic .com Farewell foot pain Our foot care starts with education. We treat all foot issues so you can live without pain & improve mobility. • Best Chiropodist / Clinic / Orthotics provider since 2004 • We put care & service first!  905 632 1414  728 Burloak (South of the QEW)905 632 1414 728 Burloak (South of the QEW) The decision to repeal Bill 148 slams the door on the people who earn the least in our community. Going beyond ideology, we need to look at the evi- dence. You'll find no statisticalYou'll find no statisticalY evidence that the work- place reforms and mini- mum wage increase caused widespread job loss or economic damage. In fact, this July, six months after the last mini- mum wage increase and when labour reforms took effect, Ontario's jobless rate dropped to 5.4 per cent, the lowest it has been since the year 2000. There is no doubt that the minimum wage hike and employment reforms hit the profit margin of some companies, led to some layoffs and some companies halted plans to expand their operations. However, for every piece of anecdotal evidence show- ing negative effects on a business, you can find an- ecdotal evidence of low- wage workers who were better off right here in Hal- ton Region. These changes were made to put more money in workers' pockets and less in employers' pockets and for good reason. This a local issue. In Halton Region, we have 44,500 people living below the low-income measure. The majority of these indi- viduals are already work- ing full-time hours, mak- ing minimum wage. With this change, how can they pull themselves out of pov- erty? Under Bill 148, workers will lose paid sick days, la- bour laws will be gutted to restore exploitative prac- tice, make it harder for workers to unionize, re- move the right to equal pay for equal work, on top of cutting the wage in- crease. By taking away these basic protections that aimed to put more money in the pockets of low wage workers, the government will hurt our minimum wage workers, including local women, workers of colour, young families and newcomers to Halton. Sarah Sabihuddin is the Halton Poverty Round- table director of communi- ty engagement. REPEAL OF BILL 148 HURTS THOSE WHO EARN THE LEAST IN OUR COMMUNITY OPINION 44,500 LIVING BELOW LOW-INCOME MEASURE, WRITES SABIHUDDIN SARAH SABIHUDDIN Column ANIMAL TALES This squirrel found something better than candy to munch on at Halloween. The bold adventurer repeatedly stuck its head through the mouth of the jack-o-lantern and feasted on pumpkin seeds. Do you have an interesting animal photo taken in Oakville? Send your Animal Tales submissions to kmicelli@metroland.com. Please include a short description and the name of the photographer for publication. John Angelis/photo