Last NDP minimum wage hike hits

Increase to $15 per hour ‘not just a promise,’ political analyst says

An NDP promise to raise Alberta’s minimum wage to $15 per hour takes effect Monday, enacting the final step in a years-long pledge.

“It is right at the heart of what the NDP is,” said Mount Royal University political analyst Duane Bratt, adding the NDP first vowed to up the minimum wage while in opposition. “This wasn’t just a promise ... they believe in this.”

The minimum wage was $10.20 per hour in 2015. Since then, the NDP has phased in increases that reached $13.60 last year.

“They have been criticized by members of their base for some of their activities on pipelines for example, so they’ve got to respond with the minimum wage,” Bratt said in an interview Thursday.

The policy has been criticized by the United Conservative Party, with members arguing it will kill jobs.

Some reports from think tanks and economists have suggested the move could lead to between 10,000 and 25,000 job cuts in the province.

But the NDP suggested the policy will help to grow the economy, citing 90,000 new jobs created last year.

“(UCP Leader) Jason Kenney has been clear that while the NDP’s hiking of the minimum wage by nearly 50 per cent in such a short period of time without considering the economic impacts was foolish, it is also not feasible to reduce the minimum wage once it has been set,” said UCP caucus spokeswoman Christine Myatt in a statement Thursday.

“A United Conservative government would not cut minimum wage.”

Bratt said a rollback on minimum wage would mean going after the most vulnerable people in the province. “It’s something that always goes in one direction,” he said.

Last week, Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government announced that it would halt the province’s planned minimum wage increase, which was promised by the previous Liberal government. The move was in line with Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford’s election platform.

It means Ontario’s minimum wage will remain at $14 per hour instead of increasing to $15.

Alberta Labour Minister Christina Gray said officials are watching other jurisdictions.

“Here in Alberta, where we know the living wage in Calgary and Edmonton is quite high, making sure that all workers get a fair wage is our priority,” she said in an interview Friday. “What this means is making life more affordable for ... hundreds of thousands of Alberta families ... who are going to be better able to put food on the table, pay rent, buy winter clothing.”

About 75 per cent of minimum wage earners are 20 or older and more than 60 per cent are women, Gray said. About 33 per cent have children.

There will be “more to say” in the coming months to make sure progress isn’t undone, she added.

Alberta Party Leader Stephen Mandel called on the NDP to pause its implementation of the $15 per hour minimum wage.

“Businesses I’ve talked to are struggling to keep up with the rapid growth in wages and increasing to an arbitrary number makes it harder for low-margin, small and mid-sized businesses to compete and adapt,” he said in a news release Friday.