Organizations present submissions to Ontario’s Minimum Wage Advisory Panel
On Friday, Nov. 1, a conference on the issue of Ontario’s minimum wage took place at the Delta Hotel Conference Centre in Guelph.
The Campaign to Raise the Minimum Wage, an organization founded in March of this year, presented arguments to the Minimum Wage Advisory Panel with the goal of achieving a $14 minimum wage in Ontario. This would bring minimum wage earners above the poverty line, based on a 35-hour work week.
The Minimum Wage Advisory Panel was appointed by the province of Ontario to provide advice to the government regarding potential changes to the minimum wage in the province. Anil Verma, Professor of Human Resource Management at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Commerce, chairs the panel.
Currently, minimum wage in Ontario sits at $10.25 per hour – a wage that has been frozen at the present level for over three years, after increasing by $2.25 from the period between 2008 and 2010.
Janice Folk-Dawson of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) argued that the minimum wage should be raised to $14 per hour, stating that this would assist in bringing minimum wage earners above the poverty line. She also recommended that the minimum wage be made representative of the cost of living, indexed to the Consumer Price Index, and that a separate commission be created to deal with low-income earners in Ontario. The implication of the current minimum wage on students was another theme in her speech.
“Students can’t pay tuition working minimum wage jobs,” said Folk-Dawson.
Lindsay Butcher, of the Social Planning Council of Cambridge and North Dumfries (SPCCND), also called for a reconsideration of the minimum wage that would elevate low-income earners above the poverty line.
“The SPCCND recognizes minimum wage as one of the key tools in addressing poverty in Ontario,” said Butcher. “I think minimum wage should be unfrozen as soon as possible.”
However, the conference also heard the other side of the issue.
Dave Bryans, CEO of the Ontario Convenience Stores Association, stated that a drastic increase in the minimum wage is not economically feasible, and could be devastating to convenience stores across the province.
“Convenience stores operate on razor-thin margins,” said Bryans, who argued that the proposed increase could result in job losses and the closing of 35 to 40 per cent of urban convenience stores, and the virtual disappearance of those in rural areas.
Representatives of the agricultural sector were also strongly against any significant increase in the minimum wage, noting that the increases over the last few years were economically damaging to farmers.
“We have no ability to determine the price of our product,” said Ken Forth, Chairman of Ontario’s Agricultural Labour Issues Coordinating Committee. He argued that wages are not an effective means of legislating wealth, and that the minimum wage “should be economically driven and not social program driven.”
Regardless of which side of the debate they fall on, the minimum wage issue will be of interest to students.