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Bill Fair Essay

Decent Essays

In June of 2017, Bill 148, the “Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act” was introduced by the Ontario provincial government. Designed to redistribute wealth from employers to labourers and improve working conditions, the bill appears well intentioned. However, the abruptness of its implementation and the magnitude of the proposed changes could see negative effects for the Ontario economy. Many of its redistributive benefits are overstated, and rely heavily on the assumption that businesses will absorb the costs of the proposed changes. This is unlikely to happen, and the increased costs will more likely be passed onto consumers in the form of higher prices, and fewer employment opportunities. While the focal point of Bill 148 is the nearly …show more content…

These “spillover” wage increases are not factored into the CANCEA projections for the economic impacts of the minimum wage increase, but will be an additional burden to Ontario businesses. If firms are unwilling to absorb the costs of Bill 148, and choose not to pass the costs onto consumers, they will need to restructure their labour force. This could lead to a decrease in employment opportunities, as well as an increased burden being placed upon those who remain. The CANCEA projects that as many as 185,000 jobs that would have existed in 2019, will not because of this bill. These include jobs that will be eliminated, in addition to jobs that would have been created if not for Bill 148. In addition to a rising consumer price index, property taxes stand to increase significantly because of Bill 148. Ontario’s municipalities employ many minimum wage labourers, and those of smaller size rely heavily on on-call workers such as firefighters. The municipalities’ costs for both groups would increase significantly because of the changes outlined in Bill 148. According to the City of Kingston’s 2017 budget, Salaries and Benefits constituted 32.8% of municipal expenses. Though not all wages and benefits would increase once Bill 148 is implemented, the city can expect a

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