EDMONTON, AB (December 16, 2015): The NDP government should listen to its own department’s advice, and delay its dramatic minimum wage increase before “significant job loss” becomes a reality, the Wildrose Official Opposition said today.
The warnings were listed in an internal briefing note obtained by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB). It shows there has been no economic analysis of the 50 per cent minimum wage increase, and warns, “Alberta will essentially be sailing into uncharted waters at this point.”
The note contradicts Premier Rachel Notley’s comments in June saying that this type of rapid minimum wage hike would only boost job creation.
“Whether it’s the jump in the minimum wage, tax hikes, a new carbon tax, or royalty reviews, it’s obvious the NDP give little to no thought on the economic consequences of their ideology,” Wildrose Jobs Shadow Minister Grant Hunter said. “Encouraging further job loss among some of Alberta’s most vulnerable, especially while Alberta’s unemployment is already the highest it’s been in decades, shows why this policy needs to be immediately delayed.”
Hunter warned that these types of minimum wage experiments in other jurisdictions have always hit youth unemployment and the vulnerable the hardest.
“As Albertans, we need to be thinking of solutions to help spur job creation. Instead, our government is thinking of ways to further tighten the job market,” Hunter said. “The NDP government needs to take its foot off the gas pedal with these risky economic experiments and start doing what’s in the best interest of all Albertans.”