Letter: Reflecting on the minimum wage increase

Wynne and her Liberal cronies want to try to buy your votes with a drastic increase to minimum wage. The NDP tend to agree with her. Perhaps it could stand to go up a little, but keep in mind that it's like a balance scale.

A small business that's already struggling will have a very hard time to keep their doors open without raising their prices and/or laying off some staff. The corporate giants like the Walmart's, the Timmies, and the McDonald's can certainly afford the increase but will also raise their prices in order to maintain corporate profits (which is why they exist).

Everything we buy goes up, and the balance stays the same for low income earners. The real change is for the middle income earners who now pay more for everything but don't enjoy the $3 or $4 an hour wage increase. The guy that's worked his way up to the $16/hour job is now just above the bottom again. Nice work Liberals. High income earners won't notice much of a change at all.

What we as a party believe in is laying the foundation to improve the economy of Northern Ontario in such a way that minimum wage will increase with the job market. Take a look at Fort McMurray or even Whitehorse. When the economy is healthy, and you have a proper balance of jobs vs available work force then companies have to compete to get the people they need. You can make minimum wage $30/hour if you like, but you still won't be improving the economy as inflation will quickly match the increase.

But...drastically lower the price of electricity, and take the other steps necessary to attract manufacturers to Northern Ontario (like the Northern Ontario Party have laid out in their platform) and minimum wage will sort itself out according to the market. What do you think people would prefer? A higher minimum wage or better jobs?

Tommy Lee