Minimum wage hike hurts many

Re: Hard hit (Tim Hortons) franchisees told not to talk about minimum wage hike, by Dave Battagello, Jan. 4.

The new minimum wage and other so-called improvements were bound to have unintended consequences.

In the news Jan. 4, it was reported that Premier Kathleen Wynne is “coming out swinging ” against measures employers are taking to survive — cutting hours, cutting employees and cutting benefits. Just exactly how could any of that be a surprise? What planet is she on?

And her comment that it is a form of bullying? That statement clearly indicates how out of touch Wynne and the Liberals are with how small businesses and franchisees work.

All independent businesses — such as coffee shops or small stores — have no choice but to react in exactly the fashion now unfolding. Wynne can go ahead and legislate wages, vacation days, extreme hydro rates, gas carbon taxes and all the other liberal, left-wing, hare-brained (and ultimately dead wrong) policies she likes. However, there is no way she or anyone else can tell these businesses how they will cope with the changes. We will obey the law. It just may not be in the manner her economic advisers expected.

Some workers least able to afford it will see hours cut, jobs lost, businesses close and prices rise for goods they need.

How’s this for an unintended consequence? Like so many of my peers, my mother is in a retirement residence. I have already received price increase notices from various health services she needs specifically citing the new minimum wage act as the reason. My mom gets no raise to compensate. She is not alone. This is just the first crest of the tsunami Wynne has unleashed — all in the name of buying the next election. Richard Scratch, Tecumseh