Alberta Premier backtracking on $15 minimum wage pledge in 2018

But wasn’t a higher minimum wage great for an economy? That’s what we’re constantly told by many politicians and economists on the left.

Alberta New Democratic Party Premier Rachel Notley announced this past summer that the oil-rich province’s minimum wage would be raised by a buck to $11.20 beginning Oct. 1. The NDP government then pledged to raise the minimum wage to $15 by the year 2018.

Many in the business community and in opposition argued that it would hurt the economy and destroy jobs. Notley and the New Democrats disputed those notions saying it would ensure workers have a living wage.

Well, now that the province’s economy is in shambles, and could be that way for a few more years, the premier is hinting that she may not hike the minimum wage at all in 2018.

Speaking in an interview with the Calgary Herald, Notley suggested that her government may retract the $15 minimum wage pledge by 2018 if the economy continues to weaken, calling the target “notional.”

“Going forward we’re going to continue to get the best information we can. We’re also going to evaluate the state of the economy,” Notley told the newspaper.

“Quite honestly, from May until now, projections with respect to the price of oil have not improved … and so the length and duration of the economic slowdown in Alberta is something we’re going to keep a close eye on, and we’re going to look at all that stuff together as we assert the pace moving forward.”

The question, however, is: if the minimum wage is a great way to stimulate economic growth and create jobs then why not raise it $15, $20 or $25 per hour? Alberta is struggling so this logic dictates that a higher minimum wage would have zero negative consequences. But of course it does. It has numerous consequences.

By backtracking on the $15 living wage, it confirms what a lot of people already know: the minimum wage is compulsory unemployment and hurts any economy.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFPIB) warns that by raising the minimum wage by 47 percent it would result in the loss of at least 50,000 jobs. Richard Truscott of the CFIB noted that Notley and the NDP said it has always been $15 an hour in three years “come hell or high water.”

Like Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the Alberta NDP is in way over its head. Akin to Trudeau, the NDP is just good at espousing platitudes. Let’s hope after 2018, the Alberta NDP goes back to doing that as well as Trudeau in 2019.