Minimum wage hike considered for B.C.

Tom Fletcher - BC Local News Published: September 29, 2010 5:00 PM
WHISTLER – After nearly a decade of resisting an increase to the minimum wage, the B.C. government is considering the issue, Labour Minister Murray Coell said Wednesday.  When the B.C. Liberals took office in 2001, the province's $8-an-hour minimum was the highest in the country. It's now the lowest, as the B.C. Federation of Labour and the NDP opposition frequently remind the government.  Coell was asked about the minimum wage at an economic development forum at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention in Whistler. He said the government's approach has been to eliminate provincial income tax for minimum wage earners, provide rental assistance for low-income people, and exempt people making $10 an hour or less from monthly medical premiums.  "Those were all levers that we could pull to put more money back in people's pockets other than raising the minimum wage," Coell said, responding to a question from Oak Bay Mayor Christopher Causton. "But we are getting close to, I would say, running out of levers that we can use, so it's something we're definitely going to have a look at in the future." New Brunswick is the latest province to raise its minimum wage, going from $8.50 to $9 an hour on Sept. 1. New Brunswick has announced further increases to take it to $10 an hour by next summer. In March, Ontario raised its minimum wage by 75 cents to $10.25, the highest in Canada. It's $8.70 in Prince Edward Island, $8.93 in Yukon, $8.80 in Alberta, $9.25 in Saskatchewan, $9 in Manitoba and Northwest Territories, $9.20 in Nova Scotia, $9.50 in Quebec and $10 in Nunavut and Newfoundland.