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She said the one-dollar increase announced in June “didn’t bring about the end of all economic activity as we know it,” as some critics had predicted.

“Going forward we’re going to continue to get the best information we can. We’re also going to evaluate the state of the economy,” Notley said.

“Quite honestly, from May until now, projections with respect to the price of oil have not improved … and so the length and duration of the economic slowdown in Alberta is something we’re going to keep a close eye on, and we’re going to look at all that stuff together as we assert the pace moving forward.”

The premier said the province might tweak its plan if it causes economic problems, adding “the targets are notional.

“That’s one of the other things … somebody said, hypothetically, this is how it would go and these would be the targets. And in fact, what we’ve said all along is the pace is something that needs to be sensitive to the current economic situation — the depth and breadth of which we are still, all of us, are still coming to understand. So that’s what we’re going to do.”

During the spring election campaign that saw the defeat of the Tory government, the NDP promised to boost the minimum wage — then sitting at $10.20 an hour, the lowest in the country — to $15 by 2018 to “ensure the benefits of better economic policies are more widely shared.”

“We promised Albertans we would raise minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2018, and we will stick to that promise,” Notley said June 29 announcing the government’s first increase.