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PEI and Manitoba increase Minimum Wage, BC’s remains frozen
October 1, 2009
The made-in-BC embarrassment just got worse today as the smallest province in the country hiked their minimum wage to $8.40 an hour, the second increase within a year.
Prince Edward Island’s minimum wage officially ticks over to $8.40 an hour, up 20 cents. Also today, Manitoba increased its minimum wage from $8.75 to $9.00. British Columbia has frozen the minimum wage for eight years while every other province has raised it numerous times, including at least once in the past 12 months.
BC’s minimum wage is now the lowest in Canada. In 2001, it was the highest. Low wage workers in British Columbia (there are 63,000 earning the minimum wage or less and almost 300,000 earning $10 or less) face the highest cost of living and skyrocketing tuition fees over the same period.
“If PEI with one of the lowest costs of living in the country can afford to raise its wage then there is no excuse for the provincial liberals to not raise the wage,” said Jim Sinclair, President of the B.C. Federation of Labour.” After years of crying about the impact on small business, this government turns around and introduces the HST, a far more harmful impact on the small business sector.
He called for the Liberals to cut the HST and increase the minimum wage to $10 an hour. This would still be behind the $8.40 an hour in PEI and the $8.20 an hour in New Brunswick because the cost of living is significantly lower in those two provinces.
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For more information: Evan Stewart, Director of Communications, B.C. Federation of Labour (604) 430-1421.
