Vanilla

Leave it to the NDP to blow an election that's already been won for them. Gordon Campbell decides to lower the income tax by 15% to mitigate the negative effects of the HST (both real and perceived) and Carole James responds by... complaining about the minimum wage. Seriously, is that the best the NDP could come up with? Here is an excerpt from Carole James statment:

The last time BC's minimum wage workers got a raise was on Nov. 1, 2001.Nine years have passed by since then. Every other province has raised its minimum wage except for BC. Today BC has the lowest minimum wage in the entire country and workers who've fallen further and further behind. People of BC tell me they just don't trust this government to act on their priorities. But they can count on New Democrats to boost BC's minimum wage as one of our first acts in government.

I mean, I agree with the fact that minimum wage should be higher, but at the same time it isn't something that's crucial to the economy. It also isn't something that will impact a lot of people that work in BC. Here's my logic... the minimum wage is a "starting point" for when you are new to your career or to a specific field (assuming you have no marketable skills). As a foundation of your career, your job as a worker is to work hard, earn raises, and play the game to get ahead. That's simply how life works. If someone is still making $8/hour after 9 years at the same job, they are definitely doing something wrong. Either they need to quit and find a new employer or they should accept the fact that they haven't done anything to deserve a raise. In fact, very few people I know actually make $8 at this point in their lives. I mean, I started at minimum wage (back then it was $6) but I've slowly increased since then by working hard, proving my value, and increasing my skill set.

“New Democrats believe that hard work should be rewarded. It’s a core value that we all share as British Columbians and as Canadians. It’s critical for a strong society and economy.

It's unreasonable to say that hard work should be rewarded when you are proposing a universal increase in minimum wage that isn't based on how hard you work, but rather what phase of your career you are in. If I was a lazy person who was happy making $8 an hour, I'd be overjoyed that the government was rewarding me for wanting to stay at the bottom of the ladder. It's not fair to say that not raising the minimum wage is not rewarding hard work. I know immigrants who don't even start at $8 when they are new to the country, because they actually bring some skills to the table or prove their value in other ways.

Anyways, the Liberals have done so much damage to their credibility over the last few years (Campbell's 9% approval rating is the lowest ever) that the NDP should be a shoe-in in the next election. But, there is still lots of time for the Liberals to make up lost ground, especially with Carole James doing such a miserable job as leader of the NDP. What if the Liberals did decide to increase the minimum wage before the next election?

Here's a link to Carole James full statement on Facebook