How high should minimum wage go in Alberta?
Posted May 19, 2015 1:30 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The debate over raising the minimum wage is in full swing as the NDP head to the legislature.
The New Democrats campaigned on raising it from the current $10.20 per hour to $15.00 per hour.
Amber Ruddy from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business said there are a lot of unknowns in our provincial economy.
She said, when you start to increase the cost of doing business on a mandatory basis, that means mom and pop shops are left with less choice.
“Perhaps they can’t pass that cost down to the customer. It could result in closures of businesses, or condensed hours,” Ruddy said.
On the flip side of the coin, proponents of the minimum wage boost say ‘don’t shut down the debate.’
Franco Savoia with Vibrant Communities Calgary told 660News, their organization has worked out a living wage to actually be around $17.29.
“Upwards of probably 20 per cent of Calgarians are living below the income cutoff,” Savoia said.
