NEWS RELEASE  

February 22, 1996                                                                                                       For Immediate Release 

BREITKREUZ PROPOSES JOB CREATION PROGRAM FOR SASKATCHEWAN  

"Sask. minimum wages should be the same as in Britain, Germany and Sweden - ZERO!"  

Yorkton - Today Garry Breitkreuz, MP for Yorkton-Melville, made available copies of his letter, presentation and report to the Saskatchewan Minimum Wage Board. The Saskatchewan Minimum Wage Board placed ads in newspapers asking voters the question: "What is a fair minimum wage for Saskatchewan workers?" To find the answer to the Board's question, Breitkreuz commissioned a study on minimum wages by Dr. John Robson, formerly of The Fraser Institute. 

Breitkreuz wrote the Board saying, "In answer to the Board's question: minimum wage laws are certainly not fair. Minimum wage laws prohibit the most vulnerable in our society from getting a job; namely: youth, students, natives, the disabled, the unskilled, the inexperienced and women trying to re-enter the workforce. In fact, if the provincial government announced a new measure that kills as many jobs as the minimum wage laws do, the people would revolt. This research proves conclusively that existing minimum wage laws deny workers their fundamental right and freedom to work and negotiate wages they think are "fair".  

"Mandatory minimum wage laws are denying many new entrants into the labour market what may be their only real chance to get their foot in the door and work their way up to better and better jobs. Our research also shows that the current minimum wage laws often leave the most vulnerable in our society with the choice of being unemployed or going on welfare and this is no choice at all. This is not "freedom of choice", this is government by force. And, a government which has to use force to administer public policy is certainly not fair," exclaimed Breitkreuz. 

"The government talks about trying to find ways of getting people off welfare and back into the workforce, and in the same breath talks about raising the minimum wage -- a policy which does the exact opposite. Lowering, or even abolishing the minimum wage, would be better than another big government department administering a 'workfare' program. Government tries to create the impression that it is helping the poor in society but upon closer examination, its policies hurt the very people they are trying to help. A job gives people dignity -- even if it's not a very well paying job. At least it's not welfare." Breitkreuz concluded, "If the government wants to create jobs for the young and the poor, I recommend Saskatchewan should have the same minimum wage as Britain, Germany and Sweden - ZERO!" 

* See additional comments attached

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For a copy of our minimum wage paper please call: 

Yorkton: (306) 782-3309 

Ottawa: (613) 992-4394 

"What is a fair minimum wage for Saskatchewan workers?"  

Breitkreuz' answer: "Whatever the employee and the employer think is fair through a freely negotiated voluntary contract. Certainly it is not FAIR to be forced by the government to be unemployed at $5.35 per hour rather than employed at $5.00 per hour." 

Here are some of the "UNFAIR" things mandatory minimum wage laws do:  

• denies workers the freedom and right to negotiate their own wage contracts 
• severe impact on workers in specific industries: restaurants, tourism, seasonal businesses 
• forces workers to remain unemployed rather than accept work at a lower wage 
• forces the unemployed to accept indignity of welfare rather than the dignity of a job 
• kills employment chances for youth, women, visible minorities, unskilled, lower paid workers 
• denies young workers the chance of getting on-the-job-training and work experience 
• increases welfare costs and therefore taxes 
• forces employers to pay employees more in wages than their work generates in sales 
• forces employers to lay off workers whose work is no longer worth the minimum wage 
• forces employers to reconsider hiring plans and possibly never hire new workers 
• forces employers to raise prices rather than lay off workers 
• increases prices for consumers and adds to inflation 

"I consider even a low-paying job as a stepping stone to a better future and welfare as quicksand. Mandatory minimum wage laws give many workers no choice but to turn to welfare." 

"Young people tell us that they can't get a job because they don't have 'experience', and they can't get experience because they can't get a job. Tens of thousands of young people are now caught in this government imposed 'Catch-22'." 

"Government should be expanding young people's choices not limiting them by imposing minimum wage laws on workers." 

"If minimum wages are good then why shouldn't they be $10 per hour or $20 per hour? Answer: Because it would kill even more jobs than it does now. This makes it obvious that good intentions do not necessarily make good laws." 

"If union leaders think minimum wages are such a good thing then why don't they ask the government to raise the minimum wage to be equal to the average wage paid in their plant? Union leaders will respond saying that this would result in their employer laying off a number of their union brothers and sisters. This is the same thing that happens to poor workers when the government raises the minimum wage".