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Minimum wages are also scheduled to increase to $15 over four years in Alberta, a 47 per cent increase. BC’s NDP government has been openly musing about the same thing. I have had one union in B.C., where my client’s workers earn just over $15, demand higher increases on the basis that they cannot be seen to accept wages just over the minimum wage.

What about the unintended consequences of this legislation? I have already had clients advising me that this move will require them to shut their doors, their thin profits leading inexorably to losses as result of the higher wages costs and without the ability to pass on those costs in higher prices. Some clients have talked with me about relocating across the border before they go broke, taking advantage of the now lower wage costs there, a bonus being they would be closer to their customers.

Trump’s Buy America policy makes this more attractive. Their Canadian patriotism subordinated to the bottom line. Of course, U.S. and other foreign employers will immediately write off Ontario, Alberta and B.C. as places to setup shop. The minimum wage plus the new-easy unionization in Ontario will frighten off even the most stalwart. Other employers will stay afloat by automation or by making do with fewer employees, resulting in layoffs and extra work for those few lucky enough to keep their jobs. So much for protecting “vulnerable workers” as the Wynne government proudly described the change. The number of truly vulnerable workers will increase as employers avoid hiring and turn increasingly to contract workers.