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Rather than lowering the province’s minimum wage, Alberta Party Leader Stephen Mandel said he’d offer other breaks to small businesses as they seek to survive in a difficult economy, including doubling the current tax deduction limit.

Mandel spoke to reporters at a downtown Calgary café on Tuesday morning, where he outlined his party’s plan to create 65,000 jobs across the province by 2026 and expand the economy by $16 billion.

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He said that if elected, the Alberta Party would lower the corporate tax rate from 12 to 10 per cent immediately. But when it comes to Alberta’s minimum wage, which rose to $15 an hour under the NDP, Mandel said there wouldn’t be changes.

“I think that ship has sailed,” Mandel said. “When you talk to small businesses, you find out things are tough. . . It’s not just the minimum wage, it’s the piling on of all the other things that have happened.”

He said small businesses have suffered from new regulations, higher property taxes, the current statutory holiday pay level and an increase in Workers’ Compensation Board costs.