Minimum Wage Hike Needs a Re-think

New Freedom Party Video Explains Why It is a
Bad Idea to Raise Ontario's Minimum Wage Again

March 29, Toronto - One week following the release of Ontario's 2007 budget, Freedom Party today announced the release of its new video titled "The Minimum Wage" which highlights both moral and economic problems associated with raising Ontario's minimum wage.  The video is made in response to the fact that the three political parties with seats in Ontario's legislature (PC, Liberal, NDP) have all expressed support for the idea of increasing the minimum wage. The video is available on Freedom Party of Ontario's youtube channel, https://www.youtube.com/fpontario , and on Freedom Party's website, https://freedomparty.on.ca/video/video.htm.

"The minimum wage hike proposal needs a serious re-think", says Freedom Party leader Paul McKeever, who hosts the video.  "Here, we have a situation in which the McGuinty government - fearful of losing more seats to the NDP - is pressing ahead with a zany idea to crank up the minimum wage by 28% over a mere three years.  This is being done even after the Minister of Finance commissioned a study from expert Morley Gunderson who reported that 90,000 to 180,000 people would lose their jobs were the hike imposed in one year instead of three.  Morley Gundeson's other research indicates that job losses are caused by increases of the minimum wage even without a phase-in period, but the government has been careful not to point that out. 

"And to sell this as an anti-poverty measure is also dishonest, because Morley Gunderson's studies indicate that most people working for minimum wage are not living in poverty, but are young people, including students, who are living well and with family.

"This is a self-serving electoral decision by the Liberals, designed to minimize their loss of seats to the NDP.  However, it is a tactic that will put productive people into unemployment lines and government support lines. 

"Hopefully, after viewing this video, MPPs and other Ontarians who currently support the minimum wage hike will do a re-think, and consider speaking out against it, on behalf of all the employees who are about to lose their jobs for the sake of self-serving Liberal political gain."

For further details, contact: Paul McKeever

Cell: ***-***-****
website: https://freedomparty.on.ca
e-mail: e-mail