Alberta’s minimum wage freeze appears destined to gather even more frost, after the UCP government efficiently voted down Bill 201 – a proposal that dared, quite rudely, to suggest paying people slightly more money.
The bill, introduced by NDP MLA Kathleen Ganley, would have raised the minimum wage by a whole dollar a year for three years – a pace economists refer to as “the legislative equivalent of molasses climbing a staircase.” It also sought to end the $13-per-hour youth wage and guarantee that service workers could keep their tips rather than contribute them to the province’s collective jar of hopes and dreams.
Ganley blasted the decision, accusing the government of treating the affordability crisis like an optional side quest. “Albertans are working harder than ever yet falling further behind,” she said, noting the minimum wage hasn’t budged in seven years – unlike every other province that recently gave theirs a nudge.
For now, Alberta’s minimum-wage workers remain at $15 an hour, plus whatever coins they can pry from couch cushions.
