The Canadian Federation of Independent Business is speaking out against the decision by the Alward government to proceed with two 50 cent increases in the minimum wage this year to raise it to 10 dollars an hour as of September 1st. The C-F-I-B's provincial affairs director, Andrea Bourgeois tells CHSJ News the move ignores reality.
She says the reality is this province has a very sluggish economy and employers have soft hiring plans with many jobs lost last year and she thinks increasing the minimum wage will only hurt the people it's trying to help.
Bourgeois also points out most small businesses are operating on very small profit margins and raising the minimum wage also means higher costs for E-I, C-P-P and workers compensation premiums.