If raising the minimum wage to 15.00 per hour is a good idea, then it
follows logically that 16.00 per hour would be a better idea. Why not make
it 100.00 per hour. Obviously, Kathleen Wynne, Premier of Ontario, knows
that 100.00 per hour would alert the general public to the fact that a
government mandated minimum wage is totally arbitrary – that it has
nothing to do with what a free market would determine. 15.00 per hour
is strictly a political decision – it’s designed to get votes and nothing else.
     Kevin Flynn, the Ontario Minister of Labour, says most decent, law-
abiding businesses will be largely unaffected by a 15.00 minimum wage.
So, if your business is affected, you’re not decent or law-abiding?
     When the cost of anything goes up, demand goes down. There will be
a loss of jobs. Employers will make do with fewer employees or invest in
technology to cut their costs. There would be technological advances
regardless, but increasing the minimum wage will speed it up. Obviously,
businesses will raise their prices wherever they can – wiping out a large
portion of any increase in wages. Some business will simply go out of
business or have reduced profits. Reduced profits will result in reduced
investments meaning fewer future jobs. Companies will avoid investing
in Ontario in favour of more competitive jurisdictions. Finally, the size
of the underground economy will increase. The take home pay on 15.00
per hour is approximately 12.25 per hour. In the underground economy,
an employer can offer 13.00 an hour and both parties could gain.
     There should be no government mandated minimum wage. Wages
should be determined strictly by supply and demand on an open, free
market. A free market would determine wages industry by industry.
If there were too many plumbers, wages would go down; if there were
too few electricians, wages would go up. Some plumbers would probably
become electricians. A free market would encourage labour to go where
it is needed.
     It is the young and the poor that suffer the most under a government
mandated minimum wage. It is the young and the poor that can’t get
any kind of job. In a free market they could offer their services at a low
or lower wage. The young, who haven’t earned the right to a good wage yet,
would be able to gain experience and thus make themselves more valuable
to employers. The very poor are normally concentrated in specific areas.
Their willingness to work for less would attract businesses and thus the
increased competition for employees would drive wages up even in the
poorest areas.
     Along with an overhaul of the welfare system, allowing the free market to
determine wages has incalculable benefits – the unemployment rate would
drop to zero or near zero.
     Kathleen Wynne’s 15:00 minimum wage will be devastating to the young
and the poor. Teenagers will not be able to earn a little money; they won’t
be able to earn any money. They won’t know the satisfaction that comes
from doing a good job, the sense of self-worth one feels. What will they do?
Drink and do drugs? Teenagers that are also poor will not be able to get a
job, won’t be able to work their way up to higher paying jobs, won’t by the
age of twenty-two discover a challenging career that will lead to big bucks.
What will they do? They will have joined a gang and by the age of twenty-two,
they’ll be dead.
     Being productive is a good thing. Obviously, we must produce everything
we need in order to live – we can’t just wander off into the bush and pick
berries. Being productive means getting a job. Being productive is not only
necessary for our physical well being but also necessary for our psychological
well being. It is having a job and giving it your best effort that demands the
use of your mind and the exercise of your strength and stamina. Take your
job seriously and you will go home at night with a feeling of accomplishment.
Find a career – something you can enjoy, something challenging, set and go
after goals – and you will reach that goal that is not strictly speaking a goal, it
just happens – happiness.

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