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Finance Minister announces help for businesses to cope with minimum wage hike but Fedeli doubts it will work

 Finance Minister Charles Sousa has announced measures to help businesses cope with the minimum wage increase.  The minimum hourly wage increases from the current $11.60 an hour to $14 an hour as of January 1st and then to $15 an hour as of January 1st, 2019.  In response to critics concerned about how they will absorb the added costs under the government’s labour reforms, Sousa is dropping the small business corporate tax rate from 4.5 percent to 3.5 percent.   The lower tax rate takes effect the same day the first minimum wage hike occurs on New Year’s Day, 2018.

However Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli says the one per cent drop won’t be enough to keep some businesses in operation.  Fedeli says a small restaurant in his riding is looking at an additional $152,000 in wages when the wage hike goes into effect.  Fedeli says the profit for this mom and pop operation is less than $100,000 annually meaning there’s no longer any chance for a profit despite the one percent decrease in the tax rate.  Fedeli says what the Ontario Liberals should be doing is slow down the minimum wage increase.  The Tory finance critic says if the Progressive Conservatives form the government next June, the party will phase in the $15 hourly increase over four years.  He says the hourly rate would rise $0.25 an hour until it reaches $15 on January 1st, 2022.

 

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