Fair minimum wage helps everyone
Re: “NDP intentions on ‘affordability’ contradict reality,” opinion, Oct. 2
Rob Breakenridge’s recent opinion piece argues against various important policies that help to make life more affordable. I’d like to address some of those claims.
In attacking the new minimum wage, Mr. Breakenridge reluctantly admits that, “yes, a pay raise can make it easier to afford things.” The over 250,000 Albertans who now make $15/ hour would enthusiastically agree. Nothing is as helpful as having more money come payday, and no government program can fully substitute for fair wages.
As many of the Albertans whose paycheques grew this week will attest, their increased earnings do not disappear into savings accounts. That money is quickly spent again, in Alberta businesses where it increases revenues and helps our economy grow.
Mr. Breakenridge suggests minimum-wage increases make prices go up significantly, but the evidence does not support this claim. In the last few years, inflation has been quite similar between Alberta and Saskatchewan, despite Saskatchewan barely adjusting its minimum wage. We should put to rest the straw man argument that our friends and neighbours need to work for inadequate wages in order for the rest of us to enjoy lower prices on things. It’s not true. Market economies have always worked best when people are paid fair wages for honest work. Our new minimum wage helps to ensure that is what is happening in Alberta.
Freezing tuition at colleges and universities, lowering school fees and helping families find affordable childcare — all things Premier Rachel Notley’s government has done — also make life more affordable. Our government has also invested in affordable housing for seniors and capped electricity rates; these are the sorts of policies that have a significant and positive impact on the lives and pocketbooks of many Albertan families.
I have heard from many women, single parents, and families who had been working a full-time minimumwage job but who were still struggling to put food on the table and pay their rent.
About 75 per cent of minimum-wage earners are not teenagers. Nearly two-thirds are women. Over one-third have children, and 40 per cent of those are the primary household earners. As of this week, a large portion of Alberta’s workers are finding life more affordable.
In the past, conservative governments ensured that the Alberta Advantage worked for some and not others. Jason Kenney and the UCP propose a return to such unbalanced policies; in fact, Mr. Kenney has already promised a $700-million tax cut that would only go towards Alberta’s very richest.
Now that Alberta’s economy is in recovery and our great province is once again the economic engine in Canada, Premier Notley’s government is ensuring that this time the Alberta Advantage works for everyone. We are making life more affordable for Albertans and we will continue to implement policies that ensure Alberta’s economy benefits all of us. Christina Gray is Alberta’s minister of labour.