Tim Horton’s restautant. Photo: Bruce Forsyth.
January 2018
Re: Wynne’s the real bully (James Wallace, Toronto Sun, 4 January 2018):
The children of Tim Hortons founders, Ron Joyce Jr. and his wife, Jeri-Lynn Horton-Joyce, owners of a franchise in Cobourg, Ontario advised their employees that as a result of the recent 20% increase in the province-wide minimum wage, they will be eliminating paid breaks and employees will now have to pay a portion of their dental and health benefits.
Are these some of the unintended consequences of such a dramatic wage hike or one that could have been predicted? No one in their right mind is against anyone making a decent wage, but a 32% increase (by Jan 2019) over a 15 month period is excessive. Even the public sector unions don’t have the chutzpah to ask for that steep of an increase over such a short period of time.
Premier Kathleen Wynne seems to think business owners who are independently wealthy should operate their businesses at a loss, or close to it, because they can cover any revenue shortfalls to keep the business solvent.
We all know the old joke: how do you become a millionaire? Start with a billion dollars and buy an airline.
It’s very easy to demonize the rich, but without an incentive (ie: making a good return on your investment) for investors, the unemployment numbers would be horrific. Even rich people deserve to make money. There’s no obligation for them to have to give all their money away, although there are many multi-millionaires like Ron Joyce Sr. who have given away millions of dollars to worthy causes over the years, money he earned through his business savy.
If Wynne really cares about people being able to earn a decent living, she should lower income taxes and other taxes that disproportionately affect lower-income people.
