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Hawkesbury business sector comments on new minimum wage rules
GREGG CHAMBERLAIN gregg.chamberlain@eap.on.ca
we’ll have to try to adapt to the new reality. But I don’t think some people have under- stood what is going to happen.” St-Amour nommé président des comtés Le maire de la Municipalité de la Na- tion, François St-Amour, deviendra le nouveau président des Comtés unis de Prescott et Russell. François St-
The minimum wage in Ontario will start going up in January. The Wynne Liberal government approved an omnibus piece of legislationNov. 22 dealing withminimum wage levels in the province along with other labour relation issues. The Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, also known as Bill 148, includes sections which will amend portions of the Ontario Employ- ment Standards Act, the Labour Relations Act, and the Occupational Health and Safety Act. The legislation is the result of several years of research and debate, including a public consultant process that has seen re- presentatives fromboth the business sector and local and regional governments express support for the idea of raising theminimum wage but also concern that the provincial government was rushing the task. ”Nobody was against paying more,” said Antonios Tsourounakis, Hawkesbury Cham- ber of Commerce president, regarding sup- port from the town’s business sector for an increase to the minimum wage. “All of our members agreed with raising theminimum wage. All they wanted was more time to implement it (wage increase).” The province will raise the current mi- nimum wage of $11.60 an hour to $15 by January 2019. The first increase will be to $14 an hour in January 2018. Earlier this year, Hawkesbury Chamber of Commerce developed an alternative proposal to the minimum wage section of Bill 148. The proposal had the support of the other two chambers of commerce in Prescott-Russell and also the Ontario and Canadian Cham- bers of Commerce. The alternative proposal suggested raising the minimumwage to the $15 an hour goal as stated in Bill 148, but doing so across a
Le secteur des affaires de Hawkesbury s’efforce de promouvoir le « magasinage local » auprès des résidents de la région. On s’inquiète maintenant du fait que les nouvelles règles sur le salaire minimum pour l’Ontario, dans le projet de loi 148, pourraient entraîner une augmentation du commerce local sur la rivière des Outaouais vers les magasins et les services au Québec. —photo Gregg Chamberlain
Amour prendra le poste du président Gary Barton lors de la réunion de fin d’année du conseil des CUPR. « Je suis très heu- reux de la confiance du conseil », a décla- réM. St-Amour. Lors d’une entrevue ulté- rieure, le nouveau président désigné a expliqué qu’il prévoyait consul- ter l’administration avant d’annoncer ses priorités pour l’année prochaine.
five-year span rather than within two years as the legislation requires. Hawkesbury CoC and the other chambers of commerce argue that longer time span would give both Ontario’s business sector and municipal governments time to review and revamp their budget planning to allow for Bill 148’s changes to the wage guidelines.The United Counties of Prescott-Russell also expressed concern to the provincial government about the potential financial impact of Bill 148 on local governments and businesses and their budget plans. Tsourounakis also criticized the provin- cial government for legislation, which he indicated was more of a one-size-fits-all proposal designed to accommodate the business and labour sectors of Ontario’s large urban areas. “It might make sense in Toronto,” he said. “Our position is a little more unique in Hawkesbury, because we’re a border town. It (Bill 148) is going to be more of an
incentive for people to shift their buying across the river.” Tsourounakis noted that Hawkesbury’s merchants and service suppliers have to compete with their counterparts across the Ottawa River inQuébec where theminimum wage is still $11.25 an hour. The concern is that local businesses may have to cut back on staff numbers or work-shift hours or find other ways to cut back on operation expenses to keep their product prices and service rates competitive with their Québec counterparts or else shut down. “It is what it is,” said Tsourounakis, “and
The mayor of The Nation Munici- pality, François St-Amour, will become the new warden for the United Counties of Prescott-Rus- sell on December 20.
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