Genevieve Simms

The lions, vultures, hyenas and gazelles are getting restless. In the wild kingdom of city hall, there is again a debate about whether or not to adopt a living wage policy. The lions are hungry. How are the gazelles going to fare?

The herd protects the vulnerable. Collectively, the herd is the shield that allows the gazelles to live, reproduce, raise their families in a safe community and meet their basic needs.

When an individual gazelle gets separated from the herd, the lions see an opportunity. The lion sees dinner. Unprotected gazelles are open game. Over the last 25 years, the lions have seized this opportunity by their teeth. Lions also know that by working as a pride they are stronger than working alone. Prides have been combining forces to create super-prides. With super-prides, the lions have been able to separate more gazelles from the herd.

The result is that the lions have been able to prey on women, immigrants, the less educated and the non-unionized. These gazelles have seen their full-time jobs become part-time, on-call and even temporary. Under the guise of the free market, the greedy lions have contracted out the gazelles to the vultures. The vultures, squeezed by the lions, are forced to lower the wages of the gazelles.

The result has been an enormous transfer of wealth from the gazelles to the lions. From 1980 to 2005, the lions and vultures, who were in the top 20 per cent, saw their incomes increase 16 per cent. Whereas the gazelles, who were in the lowest 20 per cent, saw their incomes decrease 21 per cent. The lions and vultures used the ideology of the market to justify what was happening as natural. Don’t be fooled, though. The gazelles were working just as hard but earning less, while the lions were working the same hours but making more. It was not the market that created this change, but well-organized, powerful lion super-prides that worked hard to achieve this inequity.

The cry of the gazelles was deafening, but this was quickly muted when the lions began extending credit to the gazelles, at sky-high interest rates. The expansion of credit masked poverty for the last 25 years. The lions were so successful that they are now driving their food supply, the gazelles, to the edge of extinction. The gazelles, with their low wages and maxed-out credit cards, can no longer even buy what the lions are selling. The lions are in danger of destroying others and even themselves. The lions have bitten off more than they can chew. Nature is clearly out of balance.

Gazelles who have been separated from the herd need protection. The minimum wage in the 1970s used to do this. For example, in 1975, a person in British Columbia working full time and earning minimum wage was 22 per cent above the poverty line. Inflation has eroded minimum wages all across Canada. The minimum wage here in Alberta is currently 30 per cent below the poverty line.

The problem is that the hyenas — our governments — are beholden to the lions. The hyenas are dependent on lion scraps for survival. The hyenas put on a brave face about addressing poverty in public, but in private laugh hysterically with their lion pals. The provincial and federal hyenas, blinded by their market ideology, have had nothing but contempt for the gazelles for the last 25 years. Oh, Obama, where art though? Currently, the only realistic hope is for the city hyenas to show leadership to help protect the gazelles.

The gazelles have made a call out to the animal kingdom for help. This call is to help the gazelles get back into their herd, to create more inclusive and protective communities, where there is enough food for all animals.

A window of opportunity has presented itself here in Calgary. At a Finance Standing Policy Committee meeting on March 11, the hyenas in city hall debated different living-wage options. The gazelles would have benefited most from a living wage policy that included all city government gazelles in addition to gazelles working on service contracts for the City of Calgary. In total, 670 gazelles would have seen a wage increase. An estimated $2.38 in economic spinoffs would have resulted for every $1 spent to increase the wages of these gazelles. Considering we are in a recession, this is just what the economic doctor ordered.

Instead, the committee voted 5-4 to adopt a living wage policy that only includes city employees, none of whom make less than a living wage. It is amazing that a hyena could adopt this policy with a straight face. This living wage policy will go to city council for a vote on April 6.

Unfortunately, many hyenas see that their job is to protect and to help build wealth for the lions in addition to giving the gazelles a lesson in tough love. Stimulating the wages of gazelles, though, will help stimulate the whole animal kingdom. It is in times like these, that we need strong leadership from our elected hyenas to help create a more prosperous and just animal kingdom.

David Wilson is an activist who believes in a more equitable and sustainable Calgary. He is co-founder of the Calgary No Sweat Coalition.