Minimum wage $15.

[ZenOps]

https://www.alberta.ca/alberta-minim...e-changes.aspx

Too much, too little, too fast? Some US cities are already at $15 US.

According to my economics handbook, its definitely outpacing the optimal 6% "growth rate" of inflation where people tend to not notice. It does make most wages a decade or so ago seem paltry.

[mr2mike]

Ploy to increase tax revenue.
People will stop tipping, servers will have to declare their earnings because it's on their T4's and boom.... more government revenue.

[Xtrema]

If the commies in BC, say $13 min wage is good enough and their real estate costs is 2x ours, $15 is probably too much.

A good sign is that our A&W coupon was cheaper than BC by 10% in 2017 but now it's on par. 2 teen burgers used to be $7, now it's $9.

Wait til Kenney remove carbon tax replace it with PST or Prentice's user pay health care tax. I'm betting the latter, that's why UCP isn't oppose to min wage because they will take it all back anyway.

[HiTempguy1]

In BC two weeks ago, a friend's parents ARGUED with me that you can't live in Kelowna on $15/h.

Sorry, you working at minimum wage means you don't get to rent a f*&king condo to yourself, you get to rent a bedroom off of someone like I had to do for YEARS, and at $15/h, its probably going to be a shithole, but it'll only cost $500/month. Set your priorities, live within your means.

Minimum wage should, AT MOST (if there should ever be such a thing), keep you off the streets.

But yea, I've basically stopped tipping. I remember "back in my day", minimum wage was (dollar adjusted to 2015 $) $7.17.

http://www.canadasocialreport.ca/MinimumWages/2015.pdf

But in actual dollars for the time, it was in the $5 range. This article states $5.90, but I distinctly remember getting a raise because of minimum wage increase in 2005, so in 2004 I was paid something like $5.50/h.

Let me tell you, costs have risen in the past decade, but living costs have NOT FUCKING TRIPLED. I still lived at home at the time (being something like 16), but it wasn't a lot of money even then. Considering I moved out at 18, its also not like living costs changed drastically in 2 years. Living on minimum wage back then, I could see it being argued as not actually possible, or it would be VERY difficult. Which it SHOULD BE. But $15/h now as the minimum? Fuck right the fuck off. That's a room rental in a nice, newer place, a mechanically solid car, insurance, gas, internet, phone, and even some money for entertainment (booze and video games at least).

That's not "minimum", that's living the fucking dream for a lot of people.

[kertejud2]

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But in actual dollars for the time, it was in the $5 range. This article states $5.90, but I distinctly remember getting a raise because of minimum wage increase in 2005, so in 2004 I was paid something like $5.50/h.

You probably would have gotten the raise from the Oct99-Aug05 Minimum wage of $5.90 to the Sept 05-Aug 07 Minimum wage of $7.

[Mitsu3000gt]

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Ploy to increase tax revenue.
People will stop tipping, servers will have to declare their earnings because it's on their T4's and boom.... more government revenue.

I think it's $13.60 right now, as much as I'd love to see everyone stop tipping (99% of servers I've had in Calgary do literally nothing beyond the bare minimum of their job requirement to earn tips), I don't think people will go from tipping 15-20% to 0% for $1.40/hr.

Better yet, make it like most states in the USA where they are paid $2.40/hr and the rest is tips, so they can't just coast by on the bare minimum.

[colinxx235]

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I think it's $13.60 right now, as much as I'd love to see everyone stop tipping (99% of servers I've had in Calgary do literally nothing beyond the bare minimum of their job requirement to earn tips), I don't think people will go from tipping 15-20% to 0% for $1.40/hr.

Better yet, make it like most states in the USA where they are paid $2.40/hr and the rest is tips, so they can't just coast by on the bare minimum.

I think it is more so the fact that min wage has gone from $10.20 (Sept 1/2014) to $15.00 (Oct 1/2018). An almost 50% increase in 4 years is obviously quite a large jump. If you would like the complete history here you go https://open.canada.ca/data/en/datas...c-9732781ef8a0

At some point something will need to adjust with service wages or the tipping system is going to have to fall, in which case every single restaurant that enforces a tipout system on service staff would have to be crushed. I was a server ranging from 05 to 09 and even with min wage $7-$8.80 you did decent. To think the wages have doubled in that time is a decent chunk to add on.

[Buster]

I didn't stop tipping with the new minimum wage. But that sounds like a pretty good idea. I'm also a cheap fucker.

And I also despise the concept of minimum wage at all, which is so dumb it make my brain hurt.

[Mitsu3000gt]

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I think it is more so the fact that min wage has gone from $10.20 (Sept 1/2014) to $15.00 (Oct 1/2018). An almost 50% increase in 4 years is obviously quite a large jump. If you would like the complete history here you go https://open.canada.ca/data/en/datas...c-9732781ef8a0

At some point something will need to adjust with service wages or the tipping system is going to have to fall, in which case every single restaurant that enforces a tipout system on service staff would have to be crushed. I was a server ranging from 05 to 09 and even with min wage $7-$8.80 you did decent. To think the wages have doubled in that time is a decent chunk to add on.

Oh wow, I did not realize it had climbed that fast. Good point.

The cost to eat out at a decent restaurant hasn't really changed in as long as I can remember, and like you say, servers did just fine on tips at $7-8hr, especially considering it is an unskilled job with no real requirements. Tips are also tax free for the most part which is a pretty significant advantage.

[max_boost]

Minimum wage gets you the minimum .... not a 1% lifestyle lol

Having said that, I'm not gonna punish the servers by not tipping or tipping less but that's me. To each their own.

[Buster]

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Minimum wage gets you the minimum .... not a 1% lifestyle lol

Having said that, I'm not gonna punish the servers by not tipping or tipping less but that's me. To each their own.

Would you, as the consumer, see better value in taking what you would have tipped, and mailing the cash in an envelope to the owner of the restaurant. Or would you see better value by giving that cash to the server.

[Mitsu3000gt]

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Minimum wage gets you the minimum .... not a 1% lifestyle lol

Having said that, I'm not gonna punish the servers by not tipping or tipping less but that's me. To each their own.

If they are making $15/hr for the most basic work, how are they being punished by not getting another 15-20% for doing the absolute minimum their job requires?

[max_boost]

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Would you, as the consumer, see better value in taking what you would have tipped, and mailing the cash in an envelope to the owner of the restaurant. Or would you see better value by giving that cash to the server.

Many Asian places pool tips or the owner would simply take it and offer a flat rate per hour to each staff member and the owner comes out way ahead. MAX 10% at these Asian places.

Perhaps my views on tipping are different as I work in the industry and not gonna get into a discussion of how much to tip etc. but the minimum wage does not affect how much I tip. Plus I'm simply use to giving money away to women now so that's that.

[OTown]

Too much, too fast IMO. It should follow inflation. But yes, I am also for getting rid of this tipping business - Europe has gotten rid of it for decades and it seems to be OK there.

[J-hop]

It’s an interesting situation in Canada. The arguement always is “the owner should be able to pay whatever they want, if the employee doesn’t like that they can work somewhere else”, that by itself is a silly argument IMO, there isn’t a wealth of opportunity out there. Calgary is a measly 1 million people and is the largest Canadian city in a 3500km radius (I think we are the largest city west of Toronto).

We simply don’t have the population support for the “go somewhere else” idea to really work IMO.

But is increasing minimum wage the answer? I don’t know.

[dirtsniffer]

Entrees at a pub have gone from 13-15 bucks to 18-20 in the last few years. Food costs, staff costs, overhead all up thanks to the NDP.

[vengie]

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Entrees at a pub have gone from 13-15 bucks to 18-20 in the last few years. Food costs, staff costs, overhead all up thanks to the NDP.

This.

The cost of food here is astronomical.

My wife and I were just in South Africa for close to a month and we were able to have a full steak + lobster dinner, with 2 appies and 3-4 drinks each and pay $70cdn after tip.

[Tik-Tok]

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Entrees at a pub have gone from 13-15 bucks to 18-20 in the last few years. Food costs, staff costs, overhead all up thanks to the NDP.

By "last few years" do you mean last decade? It's not just the NDP's fault, it's restaurant owners who provide shitty food, for a high price because they feel entitled to live the 1% lifestyle just because they are business owners. It isn't just restaurants either, almost every business in Calgary has the same mentality. A good friend of mine is a custom cabinet maker. He lives in a million dollar house, and has very expensive hobbies. I'm not saying he doesn't work his ass off, but just look anywhere else in the country, or even south of the boarder, and tell me how many cabinet makers are raking in the same cash flow?

[colinxx235]

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Entrees at a pub have gone from 13-15 bucks to 18-20 in the last few years. Food costs, staff costs, overhead all up thanks to the NDP.

I would definitely have to +1 on the cost of dishes at many places going up $3-5 at least for most pubs/typical restaurants. It doesn't seem to take very long that you go into OJs, Earls etc and the menu is "new" and you quickly notice the prices have jumped. Or if the base price hasn't jumped then any side accept for fries/garden salad is add $2-4 each to sneak that price in.

I find even going quickly to Edo or Wok Box for example is close to $20 haha.

[npham]

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Calgary is a measly 1 million people and is the largest Canadian city in a 3500km radius (I think we are the largest city west of Toronto).

Vancouver?