ON Wednesday, while speaking out against a $15 minimum wage and fairer workplaces and better jobs, PC Leader Patrick Brown decided to continue his campaign of misinformation. Even when he’s busy opposing an increased minimum wage in Ontario, he needs to remember that Facts Still Matter in Ontario, say the Liberals.
He claimed: “If you look at all the adjacent jurisdictions…that we compete with…[a minimum wage increase] makes us once again not competitive.”
Fact: Jurisdictions across North America are in the process of increasing their minimum wage to $15 or even higher.
New York’s minimum wage for employers with 11 or more employees is currently just under $15 CAD and going up to over $20 CAD by 2019. Washington D.C. is doing the same by 2020.
Illinois lawmakers voted last night to raise their minimum wage to over $20 CAD by 2022 – almost doubling what minimum wage workers currently make.
Arizona, Colorado, and Maine will be increasing their minimum wage to over $16 CAD by 2020. Washington State and Oregon are raising theirs to over $18 CAD by 2020 and 2022 respectively.
Here in Canada, Alberta will have a $15 minimum wage in place by 2018. The new NDP-Green Party coalition in B.C. has also pledged to move forward with an increased minimum wage of “at least $15 per hour.”
(Source: http://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/state-minimum-wage-chart.aspx)
(Source : http://wgntv.com/2017/05/30/house-approves-to-raise-illinois-minimum-wage-to-15/)
(Source: http://globalnews.ca/news/3490544/highlights-of-the-ndp-and-green-party-deal-in-b-c/)
(Source : https://work.alberta.ca/employment-standards/minimum-wage.html)
He claimed: “We’re not competitive on hydro, we’re not competitive on red tape”
Fact: Patrick Brown and the Conservatives voted against reducing electricity bills by 25% for Ontario families.
Fact: The PC’s have refused to release any plan on hydro even after saying it would be coming out shortly.
Fact: Our government won a golden scissors award for cutting red tape.
(Source: https://twitter.com/cfibON/status/850408338441609217)
He Claimed: “Our hospitals aren’t getting the support they need”
Fact: This year’s balanced budget invests billions of dollars into our health care system to reduce wait times, provide access to care and to enhance the patient experience. This includes an additional $518 million for hospitals – a three-per-cent increase overall to the sector and a 2% minimum funding increase for all hospitals across Ontario.
(Source: http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/budget/ontariobudgets/2017/ch4a.html#a8)
He claimed: “…at the same time we’re cutting funds for autism that we have huge needs”
Fact: We are investing an unprecedented half-billion dollars over the next four years to create new services for children and youth with ASD. This includes giving families of children with autism more options for their children by offering a new, permanent direct funding option through the Ontario Autism Program.
He claimed: “She doesn’t want it to be about the deficit because now we have the FAO saying we have a giant deficit”
Fact: Here’s a quote from the report: “The FAO Projects that a balanced budget is within the government’s reach in 2017 – 2018”.
(Source: http://www.fao-on.org/en/Blog/media/EFO_Spring_2017_MR)
