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By Gil McGowan

The world as we know it is about to end. At least, that’s what you’d think, if you listen to right-wing commentators currently bending themselves out of shape over the idea of a $15 minimum wage.

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Here’s a list of the top five reasons our new premier should ignore the whining and get on with the job of giving Alberta’s lowest-paid workers a raise.

1. Higher minimum wages don’t kill jobs.

Experts have been studying the effects of minimum wage increases for more than 30 years. What the evidence shows is that the huge job losses predicted by the hypothetical economic models used by business groups have never materialized in the real world.

Whether we’re talking about provinces like Ontario, Quebec and B.C., or American cities like Seattle, San Francisco and Santa Fe, absolutely none of the dire predictions have come true.

2. Higher minimum wages actually help the economy.

There are two reasons why the sky doesn’t fall when big increases are made to the minimum wage.