NDP Motion to Review Minimum Wage Shot Down by Libs and YP

Friday, 26 May 2017 08:14

Takhini-Kopper King MLA Kate White say $11.32 per hour not enough to live on.

Yukon’s minimum will not be getting reviewed as the New Democrat motion was defeated 16-2 with both the Liberals and Yukon Party voting against the measure. The minimum wage rises each April based on the Consumer Price Index, being set for 2017 at $11.32.

Kate White (Takhini-Kopper King) wanted the review initiated ahead of BC’s minimum wage hike scheduled for September. “The minister has said there would be an automatic review in the Legislature when we fall to number six, and then he corrected himself to say that would happen when we get to the seventh place. So I have two comments to make on this particular point. My first comment is more of a question: Why would we wait until we’re behind? Why should we aspire to be mediocre? We know that people can’t live on $11.32 an hour. We know that such poverty wages keep individuals and families in a cycle of poverty, so how is it acceptable to say, “Oh well, we’ll wait until we fall farther behind and we’ll wait to take a closer look once we’re in the seventh position”?”

White stressed that Yukon’s living wage was $19 per hour and that there was a major gap between the living and minimum wages. “We currently have an $8 gap between that living wage and our current minimum wage, Mr. Speaker, and surely we can start closing this gap by reviewing our own minimum wage. As I said earlier, it won’t resolve everything, but it will certainly help to get us in the right direction.”

Yet Community Services Minister John Streicker (Mount Lorne-Southern Lakes) says his department is currently doing an analysis of minimum wage, before making a decision on a review. “This government believes in an evidence-based approach that clearly supports identification of both the status and the issues, as well as the criteria that should be included if such a review were to be undertaken. We need to work with our Yukon partners and stakeholders to determine whether a review of minimum wage is the best tool to address the needs of low-income earners as well as consider the larger social impacts this might have.”

Interim Yukon Party leader Stacey Hassard (Pelly Nisutlin) says when examining the minimum wage, there must be consideration on the impacts to local business. He says when BC raises its minimum wage this fall, the Yukon will only be months away from doing the same. “When BC increases their minimum wage in four months’ time, we will only be six months away from another standard increase to Yukon’s minimum wage as well. As our government is already ahead of BC in terms of minimum wage — and this will not change with the impending provincial wage increase — Yukon businesses are currently facing an increase in costs and must find ways to make up for that change to their bottom line from the implementation of a new statutory holiday, for example. The increase in operating costs that will be experienced across the Yukon will be felt by all local businesses and this is something that we must consider when committing to undertake a review of this nature.”

Streicker says the current method of determining the annual minimum wage going fine. “The method that we have — using the Employment Standards Board and using inflation as an automatic increase — is the method we believe is a solid method.”

(Dan Jones May 25, 2017)