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www.insidehalton.com |OAKVILLE BEAVER |Thursday, August 24, 2017 |14 Oakville Chamber weighs in on minimum wage bill by David Lea Oakville Beaver Staff The Oakville Chamber of Commerce has joined a chorus of voices warning of possible high job losses in Ontario if a bill to raise the minimum wage is implemented as currently drafted. The local chamber, along with the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and the Keep Ontario Working Coalition (KOW), released what they call the first and only economic impact assessment of Bill f48, the Fair Workplaces Better Jobs Act. The study was put together by the Canadian Centre for Economic Analysis (CANCEA) and concludes the vast and unprecedented reforms proposed in Bill f48 would put about f85,000 jobs at risk in the first two years, greatly impacting Ontario's most vulnerable workers. The proposed Bill f48 would raise the minimum wage from $ f f .40 to $ f 5 per hour starting in 20f9. It would also mean full-time and part-time workers would receive equal pay for equal work and an increase in on-call pay for firefighters and other emergency workers. "The changes presented in Bill i4 8 will John Sawyer have dramatic, unintended consequences that include putting close to 200,000 jobs at risk and seeing everyday consumer goods and services increase by thousands of dollars for each and every family in Ontario," said Karl Baldauf, vice-president of policy and government relations at the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and KOW spokesperson. "We've run the numbers and it's clear this is too much, too soon. If the Ontario government chooses to proceed with these sweeping reforms too quickly, all of us will be affected, and the most vulnerable in our society chief among them." Oakville Chamber of Commerce president John Sawyer said the proposed Bill f48 is currently top of mind among many local chamber members. "Since the announcement of Bill f48, we have heard an overwhelming number of concerns raised by Oakville chamber members over the size -- and in particular, the timing -- of these proposed changes. They expressed their concerns over the unintended consequences of job losses due to rising costs, the inability to remain competitive, increased costs to consumers and the unfortunate reality of shutting down their business," said Sawyer. "Working with KOW, our goal is to address elements of the legislation where we think there is still room for negotiation, while bringing forth the evidence from this economic analysis to show the impact this will have on business and consumers." According to the economic impact analysis, if Bill f48 were implemented as drafted, there would be: · A $23 billion hit to business over the next two years; · 185,000 Ontario jobs at high risk over the next two years (30,000 of the jobs at risk are for youth under 25, while 96,000 of the employees at risk are expected to be women); · A 50 per cent increase to inflation for this year and the foreseeable future, with the cost of consumer goods and services going up by $1,300 per household on average each and every year; · A need for the Ontario government to borrow $440 million more to cover increases in new costs for this legislation; · Municipalities forced to increase employee wages by $500 million without additional offsetting revenues. For more details on the economic analysis, visit keepontarioworking.ca. The Keep Ontario Working Coalition (KOW ) is a broad-spectrum group of business sector representatives concerned with sound public policy to help produce jobs and grow Ontario. CANCEA is a state-of-the-art interdisciplinary research organization that is dedicated to objective, independent and evidence-based analysis. S w im Spas · H ot Tubs · S aunas · Spa A c c e s s o rie s · C h e m ic a ls FREE HAMMOCK P IC -A -D E L I W W eekly Specials: $99 9 $9 Thursday Nights: Domestic Pint & 1 lb of Wings Daily special: Large 3 item Pizza" Dine In & Pick up only Featuring Best Montreal Smoked Sandwiches All Day Breakfast. Hours: Monday - Saturday 7 am -1 am Closed Sundays. 670 Fourth Line (9 0 5 ) 33 9-190 5 * w ith n e w a c r y lic h o t tu b p u rc h a s e CANADIAN SPA CO canadianspacom pany.ca 1283 CORNWALL RD, OAKVILLE L6J 7T5 1-877-347-7727 R e a d y fo r b a c k to s c h o o l? Learn to be a proactive driver from the best. Take advantage of summer Express Courses & register before school starts. YD.COM | (905) 842-6846 YOUNG . DRIVERS Text YDOAKVILLEBEAVER to 58888 for course dates. 312-345 Lakeshore Rd. East, Oakville 107-180 Oak Park Blvd., Oakville