NEW costs are never welcome, but one West Vancouver business leader says B.C.'s new minimum wage is one employers can live with.
"We have a number of retailers around the table and they are exposed," said Maggie Pappas, vice-president of the West Vancouver Chamber of Commerce. "But no one has brought it up as an issue that required grave consideration or opposition."
The province's minimum wage remained at $8 per hour, the lowest in Canada, for more than a decade. Successive B.C. Liberal governments under Gordon Campbell refused to raise it and instead introduced a $6 training wage that employers could pay for the first 500 hours of a worker's employment.
Following her ascension to the premiership in the spring of 2011, Christy Clark announced three 75-cent hikes to be spread over a 12-month period.
The last of these came into effect May 1, bringing B.C.'s minimum wage up to $10.25 per hour, the second highest in Canada after Nunavut.
Clark also abolished the training wage.
"The way I think most businesses and people involved in business would see this is as a bit of double-edged sword," said Pappas.
"The timing for any kind of an increase in costs at all is not brilliant as we are sitting on the leading edge of what we hope will be a turnaround in the economy. It's a fragile time. But on the other hand, this is obviously long overdue."
Pappas praised the Clark government for its phased approach, which she described as "respectful to business."
"Even though it's a cost to business and business could use every break it can get, you have to flip the coin over. The people who are working for those businesses are consumers, and they are helping grow the economy as well. They can't go 10 years with no increase in wages.
"We have to remain competitive. We are one of the three major provinces, and this is the most expensive to live in. I have sympathy with business owners; I'm one myself. But I also have sympathy with people who don't get any kind of a raise in 10 years, and I know that whatever raise they're getting, they're going to spend it in the economy."
Pappas said she had seen no evidence over the past year that the two earlier wage hikes had led to job losses, the argument advanced by the Campbell governments.
Many businesses in the retail sector are "teetering," she said, and while they will be the most affected by higher wages, they are also the most likely to benefit from increased consumer buying power.
Challenging businesses, she added, forces them to innovate, leaving them well positioned if B.C. is, in fact, "on the cusp of a solid turnaround."
"Most business are fairly reasonable and they realize they've had a bit of a break in the wage remaining very low for almost a decade," said Pappas.
