Nipissing’s MPP says he can’t understand why the Liberals are ignoring the enormous job losses a sudden rise in the minimum wage will cause. Vic Fedeli was reacting to a warning from the Financial Accountability Officer where a $15 minimum wage will eliminate 50,000 jobs. Furthermore, the groups hardest hit by the losses will be teenagers and young adults. Fedeli says the FAO adds the huge spike in the minimum wage will have another affect. He says it does nothing to alleviate poverty which was the goal of increasing the minimum wage in the first place. That’s because merchants will have to raise their prices to offset the added expense the new rate creates. Fedeli says he’s at a loss to explain why the Ontario Liberals continue to pursue a sudden spike in the hourly wage and cost 50,000 people their jobs. He says the FAO correctly concludes that the job losses are real because the rise in wages is too fast. Fedeli says the Progressive Conservative party agrees the minimum wage should be $15 an hour but the increase should be phased in over a longer period. The Tory finance critic also disagrees with an NDP suggestion that the government should introduce offsets to help employers that find it difficult to cope with the $15 minimum wage in the beginning. Fedeli says all offsets do is just add more costs. He says in this case it’s the government that faces the increased costs but in the end it recovers that increase from taxpayers.
