"Frankly, they find it a difficult concept because first of all people think it's like the minimum wage and what can city council do about the minimum wage, because that's a provincial jurisdiction. But the other thing is that it's called wage, when it is a wage and benefits and entitlements all rolled into one," she told The Tyee.

"But when people understand what it means and they know how expensive it is to live in Richmond, I get really good responses from people saying 'that's the minimum that people should be able to live in dignity in the city that they wish to.'"

If elected, Whalen wants to follow the model of New Westminster, the first municipality in Canada to adopt a living wage, where city staff investigates the wage and it's effect on the city.

"It's not something that happens immediately," she says.

Getting into the business of living wage

When asked why he supports looking into a living wage for North Vancouver, the thoughts of Craig Keating, a trustee incumbent, turn to the man that cleans his carpets.

"I keep telling the story of the guy who's got a business cleaning my carpets, and he just couldn't find enough people to stay in his business, even though he's paying them a very good rate, that they could reliably continue to work for him," he says.

"I think, depending on where you sit in the community -- business, employee, etcetera -- there's all sorts of good reasons why we would want to make our society more whole through giving people the necessary income support so that they can stay and live there."

Keating won't go so far as to say that he supports the living wage in North Van, rather he supports city staff looking into the idea. On Sept. 19, Keating presented a motion directing staff to do just that, which was passed unanimously by council.

"What I really want to initiate is a broader discussion about the issues surrounding living wage. The living wage is an important way in which we can ensure that people of various incomes can stay and live successfully in our community, but I think that needs to be a discussion outside the city adopting a policy, where we're only dealing with our own corporate operations and the rates we pay," he says.

"What I'm hoping to get is a broader discussion with non-profits, with business, with elected officials about what we need to do as an entire community to move ahead on these issues."

Who wins with a living wage?

This election marks the first one Jaimie McEvoy will face since spearheading the campaign for the city of New Westminster to become a living wage employer. He says overall, the reaction to the wage has been fairly positive.

"B.C. Business Magazine had three different articles about the living wage after I introduced it, and I was sort of expecting this big, corporate media backlash and it never happened," he told The Tyee.

"One of the reasons it didn't happen with them is because they saw it as a useful tool for economic stability, and also because of labor shortages that are impending as there's going to be massive retirement, there's going to be a lot of competition for any kind of job with any kind of skill, even casual jobs."

But McEvoy doesn't expect this election to be easy for him. At least one candidate is actively running against the living wage, arguing it overrides the province's minimum wage and eradicates fair competition for city contracts.

'Shame!' cries McEvoy's opponent

Former businessman John Ashdown is running his campaign on prudent fiscal spending, including the elimination of the living wage stipulation in city contracts.

"Those unfortunately living in poverty need to be helped by private sector businesses creating jobs through economic growth not the city of New Westminster or unions who have set the bar so high one can't afford to hire them. Unions favouring the fair living wage are holding these potential workers from getting a job. Shame!" he wrote in an email to The Tyee.

"I see no evidence where New Westminster taxpayers benefit by the fair living wage."

In McEvoy's opinion, it's simple morality to support the living wage, and believes a campaign to roll back the wages of some of the poorest people in the district won't be supported.

But to those who fear the city is misspending tax payers' money, McEvoy points out that provincial law requires municipalities to be frugal.

"And part of the living wage movement is that if businesses can't do this, they can't afford it, we still encourage businesses to look at what they can do. Can you provide a bus pass? Can you provide enough hours of work that a person can pay the bills? I really find business people are interested in having that discussion, as long as it's not about attacking them or undermining them," he says.

In a region where housing prices are increasing faster than wages, and childcare spaces are as rare as a sighting of Sasquatch, voters in Metro Vancouver looking for relief could well be turning the tide on the living wage, bringing a wave of income relief to low-income employees across the region.

Tomorrow: A candidate running for civic office makes transparency a hot-button issue.