DBIA, Leal talk $15/hr. pay hike

MPP Jeff Leal defended the provincial government’s decision to hike the minimum wage at a meeting for downtown business owners on Wednesday.

Leal is the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and also the Minister Responsible for Small Business.

He was the guest speaker at the Downtown BIA’s monthly breakfast meeting at Empress Gardens on Wednesday.

In his remarks, Leal was wideranging: He talked about his recent travels to the U.S. where he spoke with American politicians about the importance of free trade.

He also spoke of how the Ontario government recently bought 80,000 Naloxone kits to combat opioid addiction, and about how he’s not surprised that the city and the Township of Cavan Monaghan are still at a stalemate when it comes to annexation.

But during a Q&A session, business owners wanted to discuss only one topic: minimum wage.

In late May, the provincial government announced it would be increasing minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2019 (up from the current rate of $11.40.)

Roughly 30 DBIA members were in the room on Wednesday, and many who spoke up seemed concerned.

When Leal was asked whether he personally supported the wage hike, he didn’t say yes or no.

“Minimum wage was frozen for eight long years,” he said, referring to the period from 1996 until 2003 when the rate stayed at $6.85 an hour.

Poverty reduction groups pushed for a minimum wage increase then, Leal said, and the rates have regularly gone up since.

On the other hand, Leal said he understands the challenges faced by farmers and small business owners who want to stay competitive.

“The premier has asked me to look at some policy options, and we’re working on that,” he said.

One policy option is to emulate Manitoba, for example, where the small businesses don’t pay tax on the first $450,000 of income.

But some business owners were still concerned.

Mark Jokinen, who owns Mark Jokinen Books downtown with his wife Karen, told Leal in the Q&A session that the minimum wage hike will likely make it impossible for them to hire a part-timer.

It matters because his employees are also apprentices learning the used-book trade, he said. Jokinen said the wage hike will effectively end these apprenticeships.

Leal said that’s the sort of insight the government will take into account as it consults with business owners all summer, prior to rolling out the increases.

But that consultation should have happened before the government announced its plan to hike the minimum wage, said DBIA chairman Dave Madill – not after. He said he’s concerned about many downtown business owners.

“By and large most of our businesses are Mom-and-Pop operations,” Madill said. “They don’t tend to make a lot of money.”

If they have to pay their employees more, he said, it either nibbles at the bottom line or the cost gets passed onto the customer.

“It’s very hard for business owners to accommodate that kind of proposal,” Madill said.