Minimum wage to increase Oct. 1

Effective Oct. 1 Alberta’s minimum wage will increase by $1.00 to become $12.20 per hour.
This increase is part of the government’s plan that will see the minimum hourly wage reach $15 by Oct. 1 2018, fulfilling the NDP’s election campaign promise.
“Albertans who work full time should be able to live with dignity, and that means being able to afford rent, food and transportation for their families. This plan for Alberta’s minimum wage provides long-term certainty to employers and workers,” said Labour Minister Christina Gray in a press release.
The planned increases to the minimum wage will bring nearly 300,000 Albertans closer to earning a living wage said the government in a release.
Chestermere-Rocky View MLA Leela Aheer believes that rather than help, this increase will hurt Alberta’s working poor,
“Everybody is having to cut back and everybody is looking for work,” she said.
She said that businesses in this economic environment won’t be able to hire staff with the increased wages.
In an economic downturn, the government’s responsibility is to do no further harm she said.
“The NDP keeps talking about the working poor,” she said, “The question we need to ask…is this actually going to help?”
“You look at it from just what it looks like on paper it looks like the right thing but at the end of the day its actually attacking the job creators,” said Aheer.