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Pat layton: "When minimum wage goes up and the carbon tax is implemented EVERYTHING ELSE GOES UP!!! Rent, food, clothes, EVERYTHING!!! Get a grip people you're all going to pay more! And unemployment is going to skyrocket so you'll pay there too."
really? BC has the dreaded carbon tax and according to numbers released today it has the lowest rate of unemployment in the country.
See, here's the thing.
Between tax increasing and minimum wage increases, this may really be his best bet to keep from going backrupt. Is it "selfish"? Maybe. Does it make life REALLY hard for the employees who loose their jobs? Yes. But if it's what he has to do for himself and his own family... It's what he has to do.
It isn't the business owners' fault that they're being pushed to this. It's the fault of the most inexperienced, blissfully idealistic government of our province's history. They have wonderful, grand ideas to improve society- but they don't have the means of supporting them, so we all get to stand by and watch it crumble.
I make minimum wage. I hate it. It sucks. It's really damn hard. But you know what? I'm halfway through my University degree and $1000 in debt. That number will increase, obviously. But then I graduate, and I make more, and I pay it back. Most minimum wage positions are /intended/ to be entry level- a gateway to something greater. Our province can't afford to pay 12 year old kids $15 an hour when our debt is skyrocketing and our economy is plummeting.
To the single mom working at Walmart- I feel you, lady. But if the government wanted to address this concern, they could put support networks in place for people with circumstances like this to access. Sure, it would still cost money- but it wouldn't put under every small independent business we have and destroy the livelihoods of thousands of families.
Dude! If you don't have staff you won't have customers. Figure it out and stop blaming da gubmit for your laziness.
This bar owner clearly doesn't value his employees. They provide the service that makes his businesses successful. Cutting his staff by 50% will immediately result a proportional reduction in service to his customers and clearly that would be bad for business. He also doesn't understand the positive economic effect of more people making more money which will result in more people frequenting businesses like his because they aren't living in poverty and may have more disposable income. Perhaps he should read the numerous economic studies that prove raising minimum wages is good for the economy and good for businesses that do so. I for one would never support a business that would lay off half their staff and neither would any of my friends.
What is wrong with you people?!?!!! When minimum wage goes up and the carbon tax is implemented EVERYTHING ELSE GOES UP!!! Rent, food, clothes, EVERYTHING!!! Get a grip people you're all going to pay more! And unemployment is going to skyrocket so you'll pay there too. Small business is called small for a reason! They are all just trying to survive! Look around you! There are far more small businesses than large. Do you all want to be Walmart clones?! People think for some reason owners of small businesses are RICH! Our businesses are on the line. Is yours Maria Fitzpatrick? In 3 years I certainly hope so!!
This guy learned nothing from the failure of Zellers. They had terrible customer service and everything was a mess because they kept slashing staff. You can't make get anything done or make money without staff. How is he even in business if he doesn't want to pay people to work for him? What a jerk!
Which are his businesses. If he does not want to pay a decent wage for hard work, he will not be receiving my hard earned money either.
Wow. It really shows what kind of person he is when he complains to the public about having to pay for staffing. People need to make a living by working. They're not there for your amusement. Bad bad move. I'm never going to any of his pubs ever again!
if you cant afford to pay your staff a wage they can survive on, you dont deserve to be in business. period.
Mr. Crighton fails to understand how important staff are to his business, and is trying to blame the government for his unwillingness to adjust his business plan. That's great news for his competitors.
Most people who make minimum wage work like dogs just to barely get by. But when they have enough money to live on and pay their bills on time then the economy will certainly see some improvement. If they have more than enough to live on then they'll spend in the local economy and everyone will benefit. We need more money flowing, not just being exported from the local economy to head offices by the big corporations.
Those who don't want other people to be able to get by on minimum wage certainly ARE being self-centred and destructive toward our society. When the people who live in poverty can start to make a living from their own hard work then we will all benefit and our economy will grow.
I ran a small store for two years where the corporate office set the staffing levels. Every time they tried to "save" money by cutting staff the customers always bought less, and I lost the most experienced staff to the competition. Any successful business has to provide proper customer service and proper staffing. As most businesses understand: if you want to have productive employees who put forth the effort and want the business to succeed then you have to pay them enough to be personally invested in the business and not just treat them like pieces of equipment. Mr. Crighton is looking for attention and free advertising, but if he doesn't treat his customers and staff with respect then he's just not going to come out of it ahead.
Failure to treat staff like people and a valuable component of your business always results in fewer customers, and sends them to the competition. Look at the difference in staffing and customer activity between Walmart and Costco. Costco has been treating their employees very well and reaping the rewards. Walmart has been doing the opposite and losing badly.
The employees of this business surely don't make much on wages. The brunt of their income is tips. In some well established pubs elsewhere, the employees pay to work. Just so they can make their tips. As long as any business is employing local people, who the hell is the govt to say what they get paid. 3 more years of this BS.
It is appalling that Maria Fitzpatrick used the word SELFISH to describe a small business owner trying to stay afloat! I've spoken to this woman personally and she has NO clue how this will affect small business nor does she care!!
First of all the Lethbridge MLA Scott is referring to is Maria Fitzpatrick.....a female. She won the lottery when the fools voted the NDP into the Alberta Legislature in both areas here in Lethbridge, the other being that environmental nutcase Shannon Phillips. Businesses are not going to absorb a increase in minimum wage as proposed by the NDP as well as an increase in their costs due to the idiotic..wink, wink...carbon tax which is going to solve all of the world's so-called climate woes. They are going to cut expenses and the obvious one is wages.
Minimum wage jobs were never meant to be anything but either jobs for young people or supplemental to another job. Once servers start making $15, I'm going to stop tipping.
Unlike the NDP and the people on this board that don't understand basic economics, he's in business to make money and has actually created jobs.
I notice the ones complaining loudest about the minimum wage hike aren't actually making minimum wage themselves.
Also, min. wage jobs aren't all temporary positions. There are those who rely on such jobs to support families. It's elitist and ignorant to suggest min. wage jobs are just pocket money for teenagers living at home.
A minimum wage job is just that a minimum job ! When did some people start thinking that a minimum wage job was a life long career choice that your supposed to live your life doing ?
Its for part time workers, student, people with other obligations that require the main focus of their attentions. The simple fact is that business owners that employ minimum wage workers do so to keep costs down and because the jobs they do don't require any real skill. Minimum wage jobs are jobs any unskilled 14 year old kid can do with minimal training so honestly how do you justify $15 an hour for that type of job ?
McDonalds a major employer of students and part time workers around North America their solution was to install kiosks in which the customer now places their own order that small change cut out at least what half a dozen employees per restaurant and how many restaurants across North America is there ? That single change took what a good 10,000+ jobs for students and part time workers out of the workforce.
It may be hard to hear for some people but minimum wage jobs are just that minimum they are not life long career choices and there is no denying the simple fact that if the minimum wage is increased the cost is then passed down to consumers and that cost to consumers can and will start to add up quickly. Any extra income to the minimum wage worker will be wiped out and then some because the things they buy will cost more and in the end to buy the same amount of stuff as before with their increased income they will more then likely end up with less money in their wallet at the end of the day.
You're a liar, Scott Crighton. You increased the food prices like crazy this last year, staff cuts or not.
Is this right; you cannot make a living unless you pay your staff low wages?
Maybe your the one who should move on.
Do people not realize that if the minimum wage goes up so does everything else!! The money to pay the wages has to come from somewhere. So in order to keep the staff you have you need to raise your prices. To keep your prices the same you lay people off and/or cut hours. If you are lucky enough to keep your job at the higher wage you then can end up paying more taxes and could in the end find yourself making less. It is a very vicious cycle that most people don't realize. Everything has a cause and effect!!!
People need to consider this: when the working poor can't make do, they will go to the government for help. In doing this, taxpayers (us) are then susidizing the business. Something to consider.
Wh is the idiot lady who says its selfish for the business to choose profit over jobs? EFF me I cannot believe the entitlement in this country. WTF does she thing the entire purpose of a business is? Does she have an EFFING clue as to what risk and how many years without money a business owner goes through to make it survive. This @unt needs a reality check
I sure would like to meet the person who could, being a soul provider in Alberta live off of $15 an hour. This mla's parents need to start paying him rent and then we'll see if he's dumb enough to say the same thing. These highschool grads are just making things better for themselves when they all get voted out of office and have to go back to McDonald's to pay for their Xbox One subscription.
100% agree with this business owner and Gerry Champagne. These gov't workers have no idea the risk involved for small business owners, who ultimately risk everything everyday. Of course his goal should be to turn a better profit which will not only benefit the owner directly - which is ultimately the point when someone takes on such a task - but also his best employees which are necessary to run the business to realize this result. The owner needs to reduce his staff in order to protect the best interests of his/her best staff ...how can the best benefit if more has to be spent on the weak?
This is not greed - it is sound business practice- something the government clearly has no grasp of considering the wastefulness Which is event in pretty much every aspect of the education and health care systems.
Business owners do not have the benefit of having the taxpayer foot the bills and pay for his/her mistakes.
Yeah cause you idiots complaining are gonna want to go to a self serve bar the thing that pisses me off is he pays his servers 8dollars an hour yes that is less than minimum wage cause it doesn't apply to bars the same way it does for other businesses and then expects his customers to make up the difference in a livable wage with gratuity. If his employees can't afford to live they will seek employment elsewhere and his business will crash anyway I think if you go into the resteraunt business you are a fool even some banks won't lend money for it cause it's a sinking ship
Raising the wage is such a bad idea. Workers aren't going to be farther ahead. Chances are they will make less money. Businesses will have to cut hours or completely lay off sóme of the workers to stay afloat. Many businesses do not have a large profit margin. Or they can raise prices but then less people will afford to shop or eat at these businesses and so they will require less staff thus the workers will get less hours or even get laid off. What part of this equation does this stunned government not understand. O yea I forgot they are the clueless NDP government. Please everyone think before you vote in the next election. We simply cannot afford these morons after this term is up. Hopefully something can be saved after we get rid of them.
Raising the wage is such a bad idea. Workers aren't going to be farther ahead. Chances are they will make less money. Businesses will have to cut hours or completely lay off sóme of the workers to stay afloat. Many businesses do not have a large profit margin. Or they can raise prices but then less people will afford to shop or eat at these businesses and so they will require less staff thus the workers will get less hours or even get laid off. What part of this equation does this stunned government not understand. O yea I forgot they are the clueless NDP government. Please everyone think before you vote in the next election. We simply cannot afford these morons after this term is up. Hopefully something can be saved after we get rid of them.
That's fine, we'll just find another pub that has good service.
All of the kudatah idiots refering to the MLA s 'he' shows the level of idiocy. Ask his employees, they don't feel sorry for him. Has his waitresseswear skimpy outfits with plenty of cleavage. Minimum wage for wait staff is lower than for regular workers. Not one country that offers minimum livable wage has had businesses fail that weren't already going to fail. Every time the minimum wage goes up, whiners like this plead poverty and threaten layoffs and they're all still here. Funny how this govt is so awful but he is happily accepting the brewers grant money. I wish they posted all of his businesses so I know which ones to avoid. I'm sure he'll keep on hiring those 18yr old highschool girls no problem.
Sure is easy to c who voted those idiots in just by reading the comments
Agree 100% with the posters calling the MLA an idiot. NDP sunk to the lowest common denominator to secure votes at the expense of businesses already under duress in our financial climate. Many owners are going to pay the price of going out of business. Vote against these idiots next election.
I couldn't agree more with you James. I am very surprised to see these other comments.
Why would government want to help us when we don't want to help ourselves? What can you do with $15/hour? You will never be able to afford a house or a new car or a vacation.
I wish some of these people would take a vacation to some Western Europian country and see how people in minimum wage live there compare to North Amarica.
I can't believe people are upset that the minimum wage was hiked to help the most vulnerable in the province. Food and a roof over their head is more important the wider profit margins for this fool. Why do so many people in the province want to go the way of the states instead of the way of Scandinavian countries where people are happier and healthier?
Crighton owns many pubs and liquor stores in the city, and operates a terrible "craft" brewery. He can certainly afford to pay his staff. I would assume all the posters here have never worked in the food service industry and have no real knowledge of this bellyacher. Everything that happens in the province is NOT the fault of the current government. After all, we are in this situation because king prentice was so over confident that he called an election.
I would say the man is doing fairly well… He owns seven pubs he has 200 employees he's not hurting. Maybe sell one of the pubs so that he can afford to pay his people decent wages
What we learned after this NDP govt. took office is that some of these MLA's are quite young and have no life experience. A few were so young, they still lived with their parents. Maybe that is the case with the Lethbridge MLA. If one has never experienced the threat of losing the roof over one's head, one can call a business person "selfish". No one who has lived through the busts and booms in Alberta and is mature, would call this business owner "selfish". He is doing the inevitable...what he has to in order to stay in business and keep his family feed and his head above water. It isn't his job to create jobs for the people of the province. It is the government's job to create a climate where businesses thrive in a province and they don't get that. They are lucky he doesn't close down all his businesses, letting go all the employees and head to a better run province.
I hope all the people that voted NDP in the last provincial election are patting themselves on the back now.
The bar owner has hundreds of thousands of dollars invested, usually with his house and credit attached. To give his profit to the staff is ridiculous. When goes under, he loses his business, credit, house and maybe his family. The worker just attempts to find another job nothing lost for them. Why does the livelyhood of low wage earners fall on the shoulders of the person who has invested everything to create that job. You go into business to try and turn a profit, its not greed, its an investment. NDP idiots don't get it, sadly in the next 3 years, dozens if not hundreds of small businesses will go under. But hey that 15 year old bus boy deserves a livable wage. Maybe the bar owner can move in with them when he loses everything. NDP is the death of small business, lets vote them out.
What did stupid politicians expect. The fallout from this decision was totally predictable based on other jurisdictions.
The MLA is an idiot. He is blindly supporting his government that imposed this increase of inflation when the current economy can not support it. And in this economy, I doubt that there are many business owners that can afford to simply absorb the increased costs of doing business in Alberta. It's quite simple. Do the math people. A change in minimum wage cascades al the way up. So it hits the cost of everything. Except when you are an MLA apparently.
I run a restaurant business too and I know how tough things have become since the present hike in minimum wage. If the government increases the wage again, then there will be more problem with paying the wages and facing high food cost which we have no control over.
This is the only way to keep the business afloat. The Lethbridge MLA is an idiot. He gets paid by us, he does not own a business, he is a political heck. Don't vote for him next time around.