All of us have to give John Horgan a big thank you. Why?
Horgan has been giving yearly minimum wage increases which will reach $15.20 per hour in June of 2021. These increases have caused all of us to stand in checkout lines to pay for our items longer now because of these increases.
Horgan’s math is that the retailers just have to increase the prices on all of their items to cover the cost of the wage increases. Eventually, this $15.20 per hour will become meaningless because retailers will be installing more self checkout and self ordering units in fast food outlets.
Employees losing their jobs can also give Horgan a big thank you for no more paycheques. The retailers’ math is to lay off staff and cut working hours to cover the cost of the wage increases, and no longer hiring new employees. The only employees hired are employees hired to replace employees that have quit their jobs. Retailers do not want to increase their prices because it will drive business away.
Horgan’s wage increases have not made any difference in securing higher paycheques. Layoff slips to collect employment insurance and shorter working hours takes away the wage increases.
Also, fast food franchises are not allowed to increase their menu prices. These wage increases come out of the franchisee’s bottom line profit, something Horgan fails to realize. Layoffs and shorter working hours is the only way around to maintain bottom line profits that are affected by wage increases.
Retailers also face a double whammy with the increase in minimum wage in that Horgan created the employer health care tax which is 1.95 per cent of total payroll to recover lost revenue when he eliminated B.C. medical premiums. This new tax only increased property taxes and car insurance. Elimination of the B.C. medical premiums only shuffled in paying more taxes elsewhere.
As Horgan does not understand anything about accounting, he should have kept the B.C. medical billings as is and just lowered our income tax rates. Everyday common sense reality.
Horgan says elimination of the B.C. medical billings is a saving both to business and taxpayers. Nonsense. Why? Under the B.C. medical billing, the City of Vancouver paid out $4 million a year and now with the new employer health care tax, the City of Vancouver pays $9 million, an increase of $5 million.
If you think this is bad, wait until the bad boy budget coming in April 2021, where Horgan will be coming after your pocketbook to pay more in taxes and services. The bad boy budget will explain why Horgan had called a snap election in 2020. Taxpayers got fooled again in giving Horgan a 57- seat majority government.
I am sure David Lowther would agree with the Horgan math, but if Lowther was one that lost his job, he would not appreciate the outcome, showing once again his double standards, let alone having to stand in line at stores to pay for his purchases.
In summary, it is a very sad state of affairs for the B.C. taxpayers to having Horgan for four more years as our premier who in reality has no knowledge of how a retail business functions.
Unbelievable!
Joe Sawchuk,
Duncan