Today, the NDP followed up on a call by the BC Fed of Labour to raise the minimum wage to $10.00 per hour but the NDP went a step further and called on the Provincial Government to lower the Small Business Tax Rate from 4.5% to 3.5% plus link the minimum wage to incremental increases so businesses can plan for future incremental increases in the minimum wage. They have also put a poster on their website that can be printed to allow people to support the NDP minimum wage call
While I don't object to the lowering of the Small Business Rate from 4.5% to 3.5% and I believe that it would be good for small businesses generally, I still object to the raising of the minimum wage as it will be definitely would be a "job killer" and for the NDP to suggest that there is no link between a higher minimum wage and higher unemployment numbers is a bit of a falsehood. One only has to look back to the '90's when the NDP were in power and look to other jurisdictions who raised the minimum wage in one shot and look at their unemployment numbers.
Raising the minimum wage won't help those living in the GVRD as rising living costs are an indication of market forces at work in the real estate field and there is not much the provincial government can do to lower those costs, save issuing the home owners' grant that they give out each year.
BC Finance Minister Carole Taylor this afternoon suggested that raising the minimum wage would be a "disincentive" to invest in BC. I tend to agree with her
What do you think?
1 comment:
Raising the minimum wage is a job killer that only increases unemployement. British Columbia is currently enjoying the lowest unemployment rate in 31 years, 3.9%.
I don't see how raising the minimum wage helps anyone?
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