The vice president of policy and government relations for the Ontario Chamber of Commerce says bumping up the minimum wage to $15/hr and increasing benefits that employers will have to provide is too much, too quickly.
Karl Baldauf was the guest speaker at a recent meeting in Goderich.
He maintains that the government needs to amend Bill 148 -- the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act -- to include some offsets to employers to reduce the impact of the increased costs they're facing.
He says businesses need more time to adjust or owners will have no choice but to increase the prices of the products we all use.
“It's not just the scale of change, but they way this change has been introduced. It's too much, too fast," he says. "I think all of us want people in our society to be making more money but the truth is that the way this is coming about will have the impact of having costs for everyday goods and services go up.”
He also points out that against a backdrop of continually increasing energy costs, property taxes as well as increased CPP enhancements, it's not surprising that so many businesses are looking at options other than doing business in Ontario.
“You're creating an environment where businesses are going to have to pay people more, expend greater benefits and do that against a backdrop when the United States is trying to become more competitive from a trade angle and you have rising energy bills and you have increased CPP enhancements,” says Baldauf.
The meeting was hosted by the Huron Chamber of Commerce - Goderich, Central and North Huron.