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Black Tomato owner Pete Besserer made the rounds of Ottawa media Tuesday while readers of this newspaper fumed and fulminated over his criticism of Ontario’s rising minimum wage.

“I’m not saying the minimum wage increase is the one and only factor as to why I’m closing the place. It’s just the straw that broke the camel’s back,” Besserer said.

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Besserer said he’s closing his George Street restaurant at the end of December because he can’t afford the financial hit of Ontario’s new minimum wage, which rises to $14 an hour on Jan. 1 and $15 in January 2019. He said the increase would cost him $80,000 in increased salary costs.

Besserer’s decision to close doesn’t come out of the blue. In the summer of 2016, he posted prominent “For Sale” signs on the door. Selling it now isn’t a reasonable option, he said.

Asked about allegations from critics on Tuesday that he was using the minimum wage hike as an excuse, he flatly denied them.