Premier Doug Ford's Ontario

[Thinker]

Well, there goes the Faith Goldy endorsement!

Sort of... Short of saying, sorry, sorry, super sorry for posing with Goldie and her entourage at my circus the other day. It should be: "I have never endorsed Goldie and don't want her endorsement and I advise her to stop using my name for her political gains." That's the way to do it. But hey... What do you expect from a almost bankrupt label licker who didn't finish his education and his entitlement causes him to be devoid of social skills and manners.

 

[Videodrome]

Sort of... Short of saying, sorry, sorry, super sorry for posing with Goldie and her entourage at my circus the other day. It should be: "I have never endorsed Goldie and don't want her endorsement and I advise her to stop using my name for her political gains." That's the way to do it. But hey... What do you expect from a almost bankrupt label licker who didn't finish his education and his entitlement causes him to be devoid of social skills and manners.

True, he has to keep the base happy. Just like how Trump won't completely disown his white supremacist supporters.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Ontario government halting planned minimum wage hike

From link.

The Ontario government says it will halt a planned increase to minimum wage that was scheduled to kick in next year.

Labour Minister Laurie Scott says the minimum wage will remain at $14 an hour rather than rising to $15 as planned by the previous Liberal government.

The minister would not say whether the minimum wage would eventually go up, saying only that the Progressive Conservative government was conducting consultations on the issue.

Premier Doug Ford vowed during the election campaign to eliminate provincial income tax for anyone earning minimum wage.

He had previously proposed to scrap the tax for anyone taking home less than $30,000 a year.

At the time, an independent economic analysis showed low-income workers would benefit more from a higher minimum wage than lower taxes, because the wage hike would bring more money than a tax cut would save them.

Scott said Wednesday there would be some tax breaks for those earning less than $30,000 a year but said the government was still working out the timing of those measures.

Meanwhile, inflation continues to go up...

 

[PinkLucy]

Cheers! ** toasts with my $1 beer **

 

[steveintoronto]

It's good that he wants to do something positive. I know people who've done worse criminality wise and cleaned up their acts. But a position working with schools probably isn't the best fit for him. Some of his shady antics weren't even that long ago.

He's pledging to donate half his salary.

Now here's the danger of speed reading when you just get in. I read "He's pledging to donate half his kidney" until rereading the line. I was just about to ask "what happened to his other kidney"? But of course, damaged kidneys, unlike livers, don't regrow.

Dammit, make it his one remaining good kidney or go home...

 

[jje1000]

Ontario government halting planned minimum wage hike

From link.

Meanwhile, inflation continues to go up...

IMO minimum wage needs to be rethought as a tool tuned to regional economics, rather than a GTA-centric arbitrary solve-all panacea that some people like to think it is.

$15-16/hr in Toronto/Ottawa would be fine (cost-of-living is higher here but so is potential business income), but for businesses outside Toronto in smaller municipalities (where cost-of-living is far cheaper, but potential business income lower), it should be kept lower at around $13-14/hr.

Moreso, $14 should have been phased in over a longer of time to avoid the 33% shock rise in costs (and the cover that gave businesses the opportunity to jack up prices) that happened when they raised it from $11.40/hr. Ultimately, I think minimum wage increases should have introduced a few years earlier by the Liberals, rather than as a last-minute attempt to out-flank the NDP.

 

[Northern Light]

IMO minimum wage needs to be rethought as a tool tuned to regional economics, rather than a GTA-centric arbitrary solve-all panacea that some people like to think it is (or the vote-getter that the Liberals had considered it).

$15-16/hr in Toronto/Ottawa would be fine (cost-of-living is higher here but so is potential business income), but for businesses outside Toronto in smaller municipalities (where cost-of-living is far cheaper, but potential business income lower), it should be kept lower at around $13-14/hr.

Moreso, $14 should have been phased in over a longer of time (the Liberals should have introduced it earlier) to avoid the 33% shock rise in costs (and the excuses that businesses gave in raising prices) that happened when they raised it from $11.40/hr.

Minimum wage unto itself is not a panacea for a host of reasons.

However, it is an important tool.

I agree with differentiating high-cost from average-cost areas.

This is done in many jurisdictions, notably New York State and Oregon.

That said, I disagree with your numbers.

New York State, as at Dec 31 this year will have a minimum wage adjusted for exchange rate of $14.76 per hour CAD in areas like Buffalo, while large-employers in NYC will be at $20 per hour CAD.

Australia is also over $19 CAD per hour.

I would suggest a wage of $15 CAD in lower-cost areas and $18 CAD in Toronto/GTA

I have no issue with a phase-in, but then inflation must be added to the above numbers.

Mathematically, I can't work out where a childless person, sole-supporting can make ends meet on anything less than $18 CAD per hour in the GTA.

****

I would also sponsor adding 'premiums' to overnight shifts as is the case in Australia. We could debate what a fair number is, but I think 20% has a nice ring to it.

****

Let me add here that the stupidity of a 'freeze' is that that is the very type of action that caused a strong desire for an aggressive catch-up.

Rather than freezing, they should have moved to 'indexing' one year earlier than the Wynne plan while re-evaluating a longer-term 'fair' number.

 

[jje1000]

New York State, as at Dec 31 this year will have a minimum wage adjusted for exchange rate of $14.76 per hour CAD in areas like Buffalo, while large-employers in NYC will be at $20 per hour CAD.

Australia is also over $19 CAD per hour.

I would suggest a wage of $15 CAD in lower-cost areas and $18 CAD in Toronto/GTA

I like that they're going with a slightly more sensible rollout plan in New York. That should have been the way it should have been done in Ontario. That being said, I wonder how the more economically stunted regions of Upstate NY will do at $15, as the economic gulf between New York City and those other regions is even larger than in Ontario. Those areas have hollowed out even faster than our rural areas here. Australia being said, is also a much more expensive place to live in nearly all indexes. Food and housing especially, is much more expensive than it is in Canada.

Not to necessarily make it a race to the bottom, but there are plenty of neighboring regions beyond New York (especially Quebec even with their hikes, Ohio and Michigan) which will still have far lower costs of living and wages than Ontario- is an endless race against inflation the best way to solve cost-of-living issues- or will it make areas outside of Toronto more economically stymied? Ontario doesn't sit in a bubble, nor does it compete against New York and San Francisco alone.

Mathematically, I can't work out where a childless person, sole-supporting can make ends meet on anything less than $18 CAD per hour in the GTA.

One of the main issues facing cost-of-living in Toronto is rent, and that is a separate category to tackle. The issue is that housing has been detached from the rest of the economy and has become an investment vehicle.

In Ontario alone, 46 percent of renters spend more than 30 percent of their income on rent, while 21 percent spend more than 50 percent of their income on rent.

Close to 50 percent of renters in the densely populated regions surrounding Toronto that make up the Greater Toronto Area — Oakville, Mississauga and Brampton — also struggle with housing affordability issues, spending more than a third of their earned income on rent.

https://news.vice.com/en_ca/article...to-spend-more-on-housing-than-they-can-afford

I would also sponsor add 'premiums' to overnight shifts as is the case in Australia. We could debate what a fair number is, but I think 20% has a nice ring to it.

Let me add here that the stupidity of a 'freeze' is that that is the very type of action that caused a strong desire for an aggressive catch-up.

Rather than freezing, they should have moved to 'indexing' one year earlier than the Wynne plan while re-evaluating a longer-term 'fair' number.

Don't disagree here. However, I think that this freeze is ultimately a Conservative reaction against the shock increase in wages- a gradual increase over a year or two earlier would have likely not met the same resistance as this did, plus they could have gotten to $15/hr before the election. January was also an extremely poor time to introduce the wage hike, as it and February tend to be perceived as the two worst months for business, and perception is everything.

 

[Northern Light]

I like that they're going with a slightly more sensible rollout plan in New York. That should have been the way it should have been done in Ontario. That being said, I wonder how the more economically stunted regions of Upstate NY will do at $15, as the economic gulf between New York City and those other regions is even larger than in Ontario. Those areas have hollowed out even faster than our rural areas here. Australia being said, is also a much more expensive place to live in nearly all indexes. Food and housing especially, is much more expensive than it is in Canada.

Not to necessarily make it a race to the bottom, but there are plenty of neighboring regions beyond New York (especially Quebec even with their hikes, Ohio and Michigan) which will still have far lower costs of living and wages than Ontario- is an endless race against inflation the best way to solve cost-of-living issues- or will it make areas outside of Toronto more economically stymied? Ontario doesn't sit in a bubble, nor does it compete against New York and San Francisco alone.

The New York State plan takes all of NYC to $15USD per hour, but the rest of the state to $12.50USD then a review period before going higher.

But worth saying $12.50 USD is $16.29CAD as at the exchange rate tonight.

Ohio is still lackluster, but Michigan just approved a jump to $12USD by 2022 which is $15.64CAD

Chicago is at $13USD in 2019 which is $16.94CAD

I think the numbers I'm suggesting are fairly conservative and wouldn't not affect our competitiveness.

One has to consider what industries we compete in, as well as non-wage costs from healthcare, to other payroll taxes, to property tax and energy costs etc.

One of the main issues facing cost-of-living in Toronto is rent, and that is a separate category to tackle. The issue is that housing has been detached from the rest of the economy and has become an investment vehicle.

While I agree there are issues in the housing market which the minimum wage cannot fully redress, I'm also not a fan of government subsidizing low-wage employers via housing benefits.

I certainly prefer that to homelessness etc.; but I see it as a less than ideal result.

While I would support measures to reduce residential real estate as an 'investment' beyond those that have been taken, I'm not sure that I believe the measures necessary to full reset costs would (or should) be taken.

In the absence of a solution, and/or a partial one to the housing side of the equation, I think raising employment income is one critical part.


****

One last comment in regards to inflation.

The minimum wage rose by 20.7% last year.

CPI is tracking under 3% this year.

That represents a significant gain for a low-income earner, net of inflation.

 

[SunriseChampion]

Such a bold and courageous act...

Doug Ford‏Verified account@fordnation
I have been clear. I condemn hate speech, anti-Semitism and racism in all forms- be it from Faith Goldy or anyone else.

I don't know, that's pretty clear to me. I don't see why this should be a bold and/or courageous act. Bold was the notwithstanding clause rubbish, we don't really want this man's "bold", I reckon.

Why are you making me defend this goon?

 

[SunriseChampion]

Ontario government halting planned minimum wage hike

From link.



Meanwhile, inflation continues to go up...

It does indeed. So does the cost of housing which is going up way faster than inflation.

I don't get the issue here. The small business I work for could afford to hike my wages by 10% in the last year (off a base muuuuch higher than minimum wage) and we're not going out of business any time soon because of it.

The argument that raising the minimum wage hurts business is false af.

 

[SunriseChampion]

Australia being said, is also a much more expensive place to live in nearly all indexes. Food and housing especially, is much more expensive than it is in Canada.

One of my best friends moved to Perth, Western Australia two years ago. Cost of housing is less than in Toronto.
In fact, when I talk to her about my rental trials and tribulations (mostly related to cost) she sighs and says she isn't sure she'd ever be able to come back home permanently.
This is in Western Australia which has had a resource boom going for some time now, which you would reckon would drive housing costs up.

 

[ErieHall]

Ontario won’t set limit on number of private marijuana stores

 

[EagleEye]

Don't forget DoFo said he was donating his salary and we never saw proof of that. I'm not buying it with Lisi.

 

[steveintoronto]

One of my best friends moved to Perth, Western Australia two years ago. Cost of housing is less than in Toronto.
In fact, when I talk to her about my rental trials and tribulations (mostly related to cost) she sighs and says she isn't sure she'd ever be able to come back home permanently.
This is in Western Australia which has had a resource boom going for some time now, which you would reckon would drive housing costs up.

It's not that Perth is affordable ( https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/in/Perth ) it's that Toronto is so expensive. Ummm...your position on this keeps flipping ever few days.