The provincial government’s recent announcement that minimum wages will increase has small business owners worried.
Ken Kobly, president of the Alberta Chambers of Commerce, spoke about these concerns to members of the St. Albert chamber on Wednesday. He said the increase would not directly affect small businesses that make less than $500,000 a year.
But what affects major corporations still has a trickle-down effect on how much economic activity there is for small and medium-sized businesses, he said.
“I would suggest the confidence of small businesses is very anxious at this time,” he said.
The NDP announced the increase of the province’s minimum wage in early July. The wage will go from $10.20 to $11.20 an hour in early October. It will be raised to $15 an hour by 2018.
The Alberta chamber meanwhile conducted a survey to see what its members think of the increase. Kobly said more than 1,600 business owners across the province responded.
About 70 per cent of them said they would have to let staff go, increase prices for their products or cut benefits. About nine per cent of respondents said they would have to close their doors for good.
“The message that came through loud and clear was you know what, we will have to look at if we can get away with fewer staff,” he said.
He also stressed that when wages go to $15 an hour, some low-income families may suffer. Lori Sigurdson, minister of jobs, skills, training and labour, said the changes were a step towards tackling poverty and gender wage equality in the province.
But Kobly said many families will not be eligible for things such as the child tax benefit, the GST credit and the working income tax benefit once they earn $15 an hour. Instead, the federal government would benefit from receiving higher taxes and reduced benefits, he said.
He suggested the provincial government consider changes to the Alberta family employment benefit, while increasing minimum wage only slightly.
“If the elimination of poverty is really a societal issue, which it is, then perhaps all of society should pay towards it rather than just the business community,” he said.
While Kobly credited the government for increasing the wage by only $1 for now, he said he was underwhelmed by the consultation that went on before the increase was introduced.
He did, however, praise the new NDP government for being “willing to listen.” He hopes that the business community and the pro-minimum wage side can get together and find a middle ground.
“Let’s hear each other’s side of the story and maybe we can understand where they are coming from and where we are coming from.”
