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Universal daycare may become one of the more costly side effects of the government’s large increase in the minimum wage. As always, it will be the taxpayers who get it in the end

Will universal daycare come to Ontario?



Economics is not an exact science. This is why President Harry Truman asked for a one-armed economist because he was tired of being told “on the one hand…, but on the other hand…” But it is basic Economics 101 that if a business’s costs increase, that business will end up raising its prices. On Jan. 1, 2018, Ontario’s minimum wage increased from $11.60 an hour to $14 an hour, an increase of 21 percent. And this percentage does not include related increases employers must pay for contribution to their employees’ costs for Employment Insurance and the Canada Pension Plan. Also not included in the increase are other wage hikes employers will have to give their workers who made more than $11.60 an hour at the end of 2017 but less than the now minimum wage. This large increase is a disaster for the province.

Daycare sticker shock linked to minimum wage increase

Premier Kathleen Wynne was prepared for the reactions of “greedy” businesses to the increases. First off the mark were two Tim Hortons franchisees who announced two days after the law took effect they were eliminating paid breaks for their employees and were requiring the workers to pay a percentage of the benefits they received if they wanted to keep them. The franchisees in question are the children of Ron Joyce, one of the co-founders of the fast food chain who is a billionaire. Wynne reacted as expected by employing the politics of division that would make Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton blush. She brought up Joyce’s billions while no one knows the financial situation of the late Tim Horton’ daughter and Ron Joyce’s son. And the premier called these franchisees “bullies” for attempting to rescue their bottom line. Her actions were disgraceful. Yesterday, the Toronto Star published an article by Laurie Monsebraaten who is described as the paper’s “Social Justice Reporter.” Monsebraaten’s column, entitled, “Daycare sticker shock linked to minimum wage increase,” dealt with the big jump in the cost of daycare in Toronto. Some parents are reporting 24 percent increases in the cost of daycare since the new minimum wage took effect. Daycare centres are notorious for paying their employees minimum or low wages. What is interesting about the article is it seems to be a surprise to the writer. And no doubt it is to social justice warriors of which the Star’s Social Justice Reporter must be one. But it was no surprise to the Liberal government. Last November, the province set up a $12.7 million fund to help daycare centres throughout the province offset the wage increases. It should come as no surprise to anyone that the government bureaucracy running the fund cannot move as fast as the time in which employers have to pay their employees. So they increased their prices. Wynne and the Liberals have only one objective in their running of the province and that is to retain power. Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely and the potential loss of power corrupts even more. This government doesn’t care about business, daycare owners the employees they say they are helping or even the children. All they care about is power. The reality is there are more people earning minimum wages than there are having to pay such wage and that is all that matters. Everything this government does is for the sole purpose of buying votes.

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Universal daycare may become one of the more costly side effects of the government’s large increase in the minimum wage

Almost on cue, families forced to pay higher costs of daycare are now demanding universal (read free or at a token cost) daycare. No doubt if these demands continue, Wynne will agree to bring in universal daycare prior to the next provincial election scheduled for June. It is all part of the plan. More government control and more dependency on government. There is no guarantee the Liberals will remain in power after the June election. Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown may end up in power. Brown is distrusted by the right for his hatred of social conservatives, his liberal policies such as a carbon tax and allegations of interference in riding leadership contests. And to the left, he is a right wing extremist with all the negative attributes progressives assign to conservatives. Brown cannot win the next election but Wynne can lose it and Brown can end up in the premier’s office by default. Given Brown’s opportunism, universal daycare could end up a reality under a Progressive Conservative government. Universal daycare may become one of the more costly side effects of the government’s large increase in the minimum wage. As always, it will be the taxpayers who get it in the end.

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Arthur Weinreb -- Bio and Archives

Arthur Weinreb is an author, columnist and Associate Editor of Canada Free Press. Arthur’s latest book, Ford Nation: Why hundreds of thousands of Torontonians supported their conservative crack-smoking mayor is available at Amazon. Racism and the Death of Trayvon Martin is also available at Smashwords. His work has appeared on Newsmax.com,  Drudge Report, Foxnews.com.

Older articles (2007) by Arthur Weinreb


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