It's time our government raised the minimum wage to $10 per hour so worker's do not have to rely on tips to eke out a living.
BC's minimum wage ($8/hr frozen since 2001) falls behind other Canadian provinces. New Brunswick minimum wage is currently $8.25 increasing 25 cent on April 1; another 50 cents on Sept. 1. Two 50 cent increases come into effect next year bringing New Brunswick's minimum wage to $10 an hour (21-per-cent increase) on Sept. 1, 2011. Quebec increases their minimum wage to $9.50/ hr in May; Ontario's increases to $10.25, Newfoundland's grows to $10, and Nova Scotia's increases to $9.65. Saskatchewan is $9.25. This makes a direct connection between combating poverty and increasing the minimum wage. Provincial governments across the country except for B.C.) understand that increases to the minimum wage help lift families out of poverty. No job losses have been linked to regular minimum wage increases in other Canadian jurisdictions.
B.C. has the highest rates of poverty in the country, but our government is ignoring the problem and steadfastly refuses to increase the salaries of our lowest-paid workers. In the last eight years B.C. has gone from having the highest minimum wage in the country to the lowest. This government's lack of respect for minimum wage workers is an embarrassment that the government continues to ignore, creating a sub culture called the 'working poor'. Our government needs to increase the minimum wage to $10 an hour with annual increases linked to increases in the cost of living. Do you believe?
L. Kolisnek
Prince George
