The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) believes the new government led by newly-elected Premier John Horgan should stretch out the timeline to implement a $15 an hour minimum wage in BC.
“It would certainly make it more palatable for business owners that will be affected by that large increase in the in the minimum wage for sure. Even in Seattle, where the NDP government in Alberta likes to point to as being a case for raising the wage to $15 we have seen a recent report that shows that there was a major impact that actually did reduce hours for people that are working at those wage levels and so at the end of the day they’re no better off than they were before,” says Richard Truscott, Alberta and BC vice-president.
A recent CFIB study on Seattle’s experience with the minimum wage increase can be found here.
He says hiking the minimum wage too fast could do major damage to a lot of small businesses that are in highly competitive markets against much bigger companies and often operate very thin profit margins.
Alberta is slated to raise its minimum wage to the $15 mark by next year leading many to believe BC will follow suit shortly after.
Truscott believes the increase has been causing a lot of headaches for our neighbors to the east. “The other double-whammy is that the economy is in very rough shape in Alberta and we haven’t seen that in BC as things are better but still there are areas in the province that would struggle.”
However, the newly-formed NDP government will do their due diligence before making a final decision.
“They have decided to set up a minimum wage commission that will consult with businesses and other British Columbians, that’s good – that will give us a chance to have our voices heard because we believe that this policy is a mirage, it may look good on paper but in practice it does set up small businesses for some serious challenges,” says Truscott.
He says one-third of small business owners in BC make less than $15 an hour due to working longer hours and compensation often being small and modest.
Earlier this week, BC Federation of Labour President Irene Lazinger continued to champion the wage hike.
“It’s good for the economy because you now have a whole bunch of people who are earning more money, have more money in their pocket and by and large are spending that money in their local communities.”
Of the 500,000 British Columbians earning less than $15 per hour, 60% are women while 80% are adults.
The minimum wage in British Columbia will rise to $11.35 an hour in mid-September.
There will be an identical increase to the minimum wage for liquor servers, bringing it to $10.10 per hour in September.
According to the BCFED, a minimum wage worker is $4,000 below the poverty line even if they have a full-time job.