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Response Paper

RESPONSE PAPER Author 2
Response Paper
The article written by Eric Andrew-Gee that was published in the Toronto Star on December 2014 discusses raising the minimum wage in Toronto only rather than throughout the entire province of Ontario. It is titled “Should Toronto have a higher minimum wage than the rest of Ontario?” That is an interesting question given no other city or province in Canada has moved towards that scenario. The precedent would be based on what is occurring in cities in the United States such as San Francisco, California, and Los Cruces, New Mexico. Those urban centers did institute a raise of the minimum wage that is specific to their location. In my opinion, the article could have been a bit more exploratory. While it was fairly long and did a good job of explaining why the minimum wage could be raised, it also could have delved into why Toronto is so expensive as well as why the city has so many low level positions. Also, would raising the minimum wage really alter the disparity between the haves and the have nots? Probably not, but that information was not offered in this piece.
Andrew-Gee incorporates most of his data on raising the minimum wage from US examples. He also mentions the legality of raising the minimum wage, meaning that if Toronto should choose to do so, it would have to request that privilege from the province and parliament. With no prior legal precedence, it would appear the road would be rather rocky to gain that right. Also, how much would it really help? Anyone that goes to Toronto has to be astonished by some of the prices. A bowl of soup and salad at a downtown hotel that is not all that luxurious costs roughly $20 USD. That is pretty significant and what is more telling is Andrew-Gee’s statistic that it costs a family of four just under $60,000 to live in Toronto annually. Why? Why are prices so inflated in city? Instead of raising the minimum wage, why is there not work being done or

RESPONSE PAPER Author 3

research being conducted to discover how the cost of living can be lowered? I think that would make just as much sense as raising the minimum wage.
Not that I am against people making more money and decreasing the chasm between the people at the top of the financial ladder and those at the bottom. Not at all. I just don’t see how increasing the minimum wage will really accomplish anything noteworthy. If the prices still remain the same and those more endowed individuals still make the same amount of money how is the gap being closed? So is this really a viable solution to the real problem? Not in my opinion. I will concede that I do not have a degree in economics or finance and am not an expert in how economic prowess is determined, but raising the minimum wage is like placing a bandage on a wound to stop the bleeding. The injury has occurred and now can only be managed.
Another part of the article I felt could have used more work was inserting some opinions or thoughts from some of the people this raise would impact. How do the constituents feel about legislation that would increase the minimum wage? Do they feel it is a good idea? Andrew-Gee merely set forth the fact that Toronto is expensive and the United States has been taking measures to increase the minimum wage in select cities. There is simply much more to this issue than what is presented in the article. For example, if the public did decide to move towards raising the minimum wage, how long would the legal part of the process take? Would the province be in agreement and how much would it really improve peoples’ lives? It is possible I’m being a bit too harsh on the author, but income inequality is a major issue worldwide as the gap between the very rich and very poor continues to increase, while erasing the middle class. It is a difficult problem so naturally the solution is not as simple as raising the minimum wage. Andrew-Gee should have acknowledged that in his article.
RESPONSE PAPER Author 4

References

Andrew-Gee, Eric. (December 2, 2014). Should Toronto have a higher minimum wage than the rest of Ontario? The Toronto Star. Web. Retrieved from http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2014/12/02/should_toronto_have_a_higher_minimum_wage_than_the_rest_of_ontario.html.
Kimball, Alexandra. (November 5, 2014). Paycheque to paycheque: What its like to live on minimum wage in Toronto. Toronto Life. Web. Retrieved from http://www.torontolife.com/informer/features/2014/11/05/paycheque-to-paycheque-minimum-wage-toronto/.
Raising the minimum wage. (n.d.) The White House. Web. Retrieved from http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/uploads/sotu_minimum_wage.pdf.
Sahadi, Jeanne. (January 15, 2014). Will a higher minimum wage really reduce income inequality? CNN. Web. Retrieved from http://money.cnn.com/2014/01/15/news/economy/income-inequality-minimum-wage/.