As the new year begins, Olds & District Chamber of Commerce president Stephen Dodwell is dreading this fall, when the minimum wage in Alberta rises again.
Currently, the minimum wage is $12.20 an hour - one of the highest rates in the country. As of late last year, only Nunavut ($13 an hour) and the Northwest Territories ($12.50 an hour) had a higher rate.
On Oct. 1 this year, the Alberta minimum wage will rise $1.40 to $13.60 per hour. Then on Oct. 1, 2018, it will increase again to the government's goal of $15 an hour.
Dodwell is sympathetic with the government's goal of taking people out of poverty and increasing living standards for the working poor, but he's not sure simply raising the pay rate is the best way to do that.
"Everybody agrees everybody should earn an affordable, liveable wage and not be on the bread line and be able to survive and exist properly," he said during an interview with the Albertan.
"Just by increasing the minimum wage isn't the only way you can do that," he added, suggesting other possible ways to increase earning power for the working poor including "extended tax breaks."
Dodwell is a regional manager of Pomeroy Lodging. His responsibilities include operation of the Pomeroy Inn & Suites in Olds.
"OK, so people say 15 (dollars an hour) is not a great deal of money, but for those in the service industry that we were paying the 12 and $13, that would mean a 50 per cent increase on basically everybody who works," he says.
"Are people prepared to pay 50 per cent more for their coffee or their desserts or food?"
At the same time, he noted, food prices for consumers and businesses in the food industry are rising as well, due to the declining Canadian dollar and environmental issues, thereby putting more pressure on wages and profits.
"Are people prepared to pay 50 per cent more for their coffee or their desserts or food?"STEPHEN DODWELLPRESIDENT OLDS & DISTRICT CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
