The London Chamber of Commerce is voicing outrage after being excluded from Monday's provincial government consultation meeting on a proposed minimum wage hike.
MPPs sitting on the standing committee on finance and economic affairs heard from business owners and labour leaders during the London stop at the start of the week. But, despite applying in June to get a seat at the table, the chamber didn't make the list of delegates allowed to speak.
“After several unsuccessful attempts to gain a seat on the agenda of the July 17 hearings at the Delta Hotel, we were left hanging as to our status for the consultations,” said Chamber CEO Gerry Macartney. “This was a completely flawed process from the beginning. The London Chamber has attended dozens of provincial government hearings in recent years but this process is one of the worst I have seen."
The standing committee is tasked with gathering feedback from Ontarians across the province on the Liberal government's revamp of the Employment Standards Act and Labour Relations Act. The government wants to increase minimum wage from $11.40 an hour to $15 an hour, make mandatory three weeks paid vacation after five years of service, and equal pay for temporary and part-time workers.
The chamber argues implementing such drastic changes over such a short time period will have "significant effects on the costs to employers." They maintain some business owners have already begun cutting staff in anticipation of the new legislation.
Chamber officials believe there was a lack of transparency in the selection process and an imbalance in the final list of delegates allowed to speak. They say social and labour organizations outnumbered businesses by a wide margin, with the Hamilton and Brantford Chambers also being shut out of the meetings.
The committee is made up of MPPs from all political parties, with each having a role in the selection of speakers. The Ontario Chamber of Commerce will make a presentation to the committee on its Toronto stop on Friday.