[Zarley]

Originally Posted by iggy_oi

The annual increases based on the rate of inflation in the 4 consecutive years prior to the NDP were a step in the right direction, however they didn’t address the minimum wage being significantly outpaced by inflation over the course of 4 decades.

This is wrong. Minimum wage growth between 1965 (the year in which it was implemented) and 2014, expressed as an annual compound rate, was 4.85%. Inflation was 4.14% over the same period, also expressed as an annual compound rate.

Originally Posted by iggy_oi

I’m just curious, what exactly do you believe minimum wage is intended to do?

Economically, a minimum wage should be set at the market wage for an entry level, unskilled job. As a policy, a minimum wage is designed to protect vulnerable employees from exploitation. It's not an effective means of raising living standards for working people because of the significant number of distortionary impacts on the economy produced by setting a minimum wage policy above the market minimum wage.

Originally Posted by iggy_oi

You were trying to argue that the remaining servers were not earning more as a result of the two other employees losing their jobs (the hostess being one of those employees). What would you like to discuss about the hostess?

I think you may have had trouble understanding the example. I was only illustrating that, in this specific case, the minimum wage increase has produced the opposite of its intended effect: an absolute decrease in aggregate earnings at this firm.

Originally Posted by iggy_oi

Makes you wonder why they gave the manager a raise with such tough times for the business. In doing so they basically put bringing on an additional staff member twice as far behind from a budget perspective.

Because a manager needs to earn more than the staff they are managing, otherwise there is no incentive to take on the additional responsibility.

Originally Posted by iggy_oi

Do you assume the economy will perpetually shrink and that those others will never find jobs?

No not at all, not sure where you are getting this thought from.

Originally Posted by iggy_oi

If it were happening across the province I’d probably agree with you. However the reality is that despite the tough times the industry has faced in Calgary over the past year, the overall provincial job numbers in accommodation and food service are up, and retail has only seen a very minimal loss.

If you look at the annual numbers, which provide a more stabilized picture of employment, you'll note a net decrease of 1,100 jobs in those two sectors. At best, growth in these types of positions across the province has been flat.

Originally Posted by iggy_oi

No. Are you trying to suggest that every single minimum wage employer will reduce staff? Even Amber Ruddy wouldn’t go that far.

No, not at all. Reducing staffing is simply one option of dealing with an increase in the cost of labour. Other options include absorbing the increase if they have the margin to do so, cutting costs elsewhere, or raising prices to consumers.

Originally Posted by iggy_oi

Some of your arguments and examples make it seem as though you believe the majority of employers pay their employees as much as they possibly can as opposed to what they have to pay them.

Not sure where you're getting this from. Firms pay employees a wage based on a number of factors: the skill level of their employees, the number of people in the market holding that skill, and the demand for that particular skill.