Why bother? Labour council on wage panel
By JEREMY APPEL on August 17, 2019.
jappel@medicinehatnews.com@MHNJeremyAppel The vice president of the Medicine Hat and District Labour Council believes the results of the government’s panel on minimum wage are a foregone conclusion. “I don’t even know why they’re having a panel in the first place,” Cliff Campbell told the News. “It seems like what they want the results of the panel to be are based on the selection of people who are on it. It’s not going to be a diverse perspective. It’s people who are going to endorse cutbacks to the minimum wage.” The nine-person panel unveiled Thursday by Labour Minister Jason Copping is chaired by University of Alberta economist Joseph Marchand. It includes representation from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business and Restaurants Canada, as well as two business owners and three servers. Copping said in a news release the panel’s mandate is twofold – “to get Albertans working again” and “to prove to investors that Alberta is indeed open for business.” The former NDP government increased the minimum wage to $15 from $10.20 incrementally over the course of its four-year term, making the province’s minimum wage the highest in the country. In their successful election campaign this year, the UCP promised to roll back the minimum wage for servers whose wages are supplemented by tips, as well as youth. Campbell says he finds it curious that the government would be decreasing the minimum wage after passing Bill 2, which reduced corporate taxes. “Continuing to see clawbacks for people who don’t have enough and to see tax giveaways to people who are already wealthy, is just not making much sense,” he said. “It’s getting pretty stressful for working class people nowadays.” Campbell says he doesn’t buy the argument made by critics of the NDP’s minimum wage hike that businesses will have to cut staff to make up for increased wage costs. If anything, he says providing workers with more disposable income is beneficial to business. “If people have more money to spend, that’s going to go back into the economy,” Campbell said. “When people have less money to spend, that’s not good for business. They’re less likely to go out, they’re less likely to treat their family to supper, they’re less likely to have the funds and resources to enjoy some of those luxuries once in a while.” Medicine Hat and District Chamber of Commerce president Sarah McKenzie expressed support for the panel’s mandate and composition in a statement to the News. “We are pleased to see the government doing a review on the impact minimum wage increases have had on business,” she wrote. “It is important to have representatives from all sides at the table, so that we can work towards compromise, and find solutions that benefit all parties.” 17-16
