Re: “Minimum wage spike major pain” (St. Albert Gazette, Sept. 29)
Where have I heard this before from some in our St. Albert business community?
Three years ago, when the minimum wage was first raised, they issued dire warnings about our future. They said increasing the minimum wage would result in lost jobs, early closing hours, fewer business startups and an astronomical number of businesses going bankrupt. Essentially, according to these astute business people, our economy would hit bottom, much like Venezuela’s.
Well, it has been three years. Alberta’s economy is growing faster than anywhere else in Canada; employment is growing to the tune of 90,000 new jobs last year; business startups are up to pre-recession levels and here in St. Albert, we have more businesses operating than ever before and they are opening longer hours.
And as for the manager of Swiss Chalet asserting that his restaurant increased prices because of increases in the minimum, all it took me was a couple of minutes to find out that the prices here in Alberta are exactly the same as in other parts of Canada, A “Family Pack” is $29.95 and the “Thanksgiving Feast” is $13.95 everywhere (of course here in Alberta, we don’t have to pay a provincial sales tax on top of that price).
Finally, there is the assertion that raising the minimum wage will hurt students and young people. The assumption is that only those living at home and not really needing to work go after jobs paying minimum wages. In fact, 75 per cent of minimum wage earners are older than 20 and 60 per cent are women; thirty-three per cent have children.
So please, enough with all that gloom and doom. You want to increase prices? Fine, but don’t blame the pittance paid to your workers for something that you would have done regardless.
Jim Monzer, St. Albert
