Fraser Institute Rehashes Business Message on Minimum Wage

The B.C. Federation of Labour is dismissing the Fraser Institutes report on the economic effects of raising the minimum wage.

-The Fraser Institute has twisted its own numbers and used discredited economic theories to conclude that a $10 an hour minimum wage would be a job killer in British Columbia," said Jim Sinclair, President of the B.C. Federation of Labour.

The Fraser Institutes own numbers show that the vast majority of minimum wage earners are adults 20 years and older. These people are trying to pay their bills, fund an education or support a family. The Fraser Institute report also relies on numbers that show many minimum wage earners live with family or relatives but ignores the reality that living independently on the current minimum wage is impossible.

-The idea that increasing the minimum wage will lead to job losses has been discredited by renowned and independent economists," said Sinclair. -Provincial governments all across the country have acknowledged this and have raised or are preparing to raise their minimum wages."

-BC has the highest rates of poverty in Canada. It also has the lowest minimum wage. The relationship between these two facts is clear to everyone but the Fraser Institute, the Gordon Campbell government and their pro-business backers," Sinclair added.

The minimum wage in BC was raised to $8 an hour in November 2001 and has not been increased since then.

Where was the Fraser Institute when Gordon Campbell raised his own salary by 54 percent and senior bureaucrats wages by up to 43 percent. Where was their 60 page report then.