Moe’s trade stand may seem contradictory to higher minimum wage

The relief in Premier Scott Moe’s voice as he talked about the new North American trade deal was almost palpable.

Speaking to reporters Monday on the United States-mexico-Canada (USMCA) deal that will replace the old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Moe sounded sincerely pleased “with the efforts of the Canadian government.”

Noting that 55 per cent of Saskatchewan exports go to the United States ($15.6 billion out of $28.5 billion in 2017) while 85 per cent of the province’s imports ($9.8 billion out of $11.5 billion) come from south of the border, Moe made it clear that preserving trading positions for this landlocked province is all about preserving good-paying jobs that flow from trade.

But there are those who may — perhaps somewhat rightly — see a lot of irony in that position.

At this very same news conference, Moe pretty much shot down NDP Leader Ryan Meili’s earlier-in-the-day promise of a $15-an-hour minimum wage by the end of the first term of an NDP government.

Can you really support goodpaying jobs in sectors reliant on trade while opposing a decent minimum wage beyond $11.06 an hour in Saskatchewan after the Oct. 1 increase?

Well, maybe it’s not quite as ludicrous as some contend.

Grain-producing and industry groups, unions and the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce all made it known they share Moe’s sentiment that: “This preserves the free and fair trade opportunities that we have across the continent.”

Of course, Moe seemed well aware of the shortcomings in the trade deal. Within the deal, there will be less protection of supply management in agriculture, which will affect dairy, poultry and egg producers in this province. This is only a small percentage of Saskatchewan agriculture — from 2013 to 2017, 2.7 per cent, 2.5 per cent, 2.3 per cent, 2.4 per cent and 2.5 per cent of Saskatchewan farm cash receipts, respectively. Nevertheless, Moe had expressed serious concerns for this corner of our ag sector.

Similarly, U.S. President Donald Trump is still using Section 232 of that country’s Trade Expansion Act of 1962 to impose 24.38-per-cent tariffs on Evraz steel.

Moe recognized the strength of this deal might very well be in the maintenance of things like Chapter 19, which is critical to settling all-too-common trade disputes.

The bottom line is that Moe seems to see trade as all about providing good-paying jobs, but that would seem to make his opposition to a higher minimum wage rather contradictory.

Asked Monday about achieving a $15-an-hour minimum wage as now advocated by Meili, Moe cited the Saskatchewan Party government’s income tax relief for the working poor as justification enough for his government’s modest minimum-wage increases.

There is no doubt Saskatchewan has fallen behind Alberta since the election of Rachel Notley’s NDP government. Four years ago, both provinces had a $10.20 minimum wage. While Saskatchewan’s minimum wage has increased a modest 8.4 per cent in that time, Alberta’s current $15-an-hour minimum wage has skyrocketed by 47 per cent.

What’s in play is a fundamental difference in world view between Moe and the NDP, but even that is an oversimplification.

Moe is all about good-paying jobs, but critical to his party’s strongly held view is the fervent belief that good-paying jobs grow organically out of things like free trade and are not something that government can force upon freemarket private sector employers.

Jobs have been increasing in Alberta, but not necessarily in areas like the service sector that tend to dole out minimum pay. And the notion that hours of work and even jobs are lost when employers — rightly or wrongly — feel they cannot afford minimum-wage increases remains a real concern.

Yes, it can surely be argued the Sask. Party’s minimum-wage increases have been far too modest. Nor should government simply trust good-paying jobs will emerge everywhere in the employment sector simply because we have free trade.

But that doesn’t mean Moe’s minimum-wage caution is automatically insincere or even all that inconsistent.