I think Rick Mercer speaks for many of us in this ‘rant.’ Recommend this Post
Continue readingTag: minimum wage increases
Politics and its Discontents: Double Double, Toil And Trouble: Star Readers On Tim Hortons And The Minimum Wage Hike
As always, the letters from Star readers do not disappoint: I am really finding it difficult to empathize with businesses like Tim Hortons crying over the minimum-wage increase. The fact that these businesses are paying minimum wage in the first place demonstrates a corporate greed that supersedes any dignity and
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Despite The Hysteria The Sky Will Not Fall
In an op-ed piece the other day, Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, wrote of the economic Armageddon awaiting Ontario businesses thanks to the recently-hiked Ontario hourly minimum wage to $14, to be increased to $15 next year. While no one can fault Kelly for pandering
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: You Get What You Pay For
That fundamental truth is grasped by two small-scale entrepreneurs, much to the shame of much larger entities like Tim Hortons which, as widely reported, are taking out their outrage and venality on their employees. Gilleen Witkowski, who operates a dog-walking business in Toronto, has this to say: “I’m a millennial
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Corporate Crocodile Tears: A Guest Post
In response to my post yesterday about CBC bias in its reporting on Ontario’s minimum wage increase, the Mound wrote a detailed commentary that I am featuring today as a guest post. Following his piece I reproduce a letter from a Star reader pillorying corporate hypocrisy. “Government should function on
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: A CBC Bias?
I will be the first to admit that I get only modest amounts of my news from television. However, due to the severe cold we have been experiencing for too long here in Ontario, I have been doing very little walking, usually a mainstay of my daily routine. To compensate,
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Too High A Price To Pay
This year, The Star has been running an Atkinson Series entitled The New Newsroom, which looks at both the challenges and the possibilities facing journalism in this age of Internet freebies. It is an excellent series that I hope you get a chance to check out. Here is an excerpt
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: An Inconvenient Truth The Corporate Agenda Would Like To Keep Hidden
Their protests notwithstanding, the truth is that raising the minimum wage is good for business. And it isn’t just the behemoths depicted above who benefit. The CEO of a popular fast food chain said this week that he was “stunned” to see profits soar each time California passed minimum wage
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Andrea’s Damascene Moment
In the Book of Luke, Jesus is reported to have said the following:I tell you that … there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.In Acts of the Apostles, Paul’s conversion…
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Now This Is The Kind Of Story I Like To Read About
The opportunity to report about something positive in the kind of blog I write is rare. For example, while reports abound of corporate theft and paltry remuneration for the workers that make big profits possible, less common is a story about a business…
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: A Little Hard To Swallow
Despite the fact that I think and write a great deal about the disparities and inequities that plague our society, I am almost embarrassed to admit that until now, I had never heard of something called The Big Mac Index, launched, according to a recen…
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: She Speaks!
But unfortunately, the politically timid (opportunistic?) leader of the Ontario NDP, Andrea Horwath, doesn’t really have much to say as she finally figures out what her political ambitions will permit her to state about the minimum wage. Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Andrea’s Dilemma: Whither Blowest The Wind?
Were I a gifted artist (or any kind of artist, for that matter) I would draw Andrea Horwath in a two-panel caricature. In the first panel, index finger raised, she would be turning to her left, and in the second, to her right, testing the prevailing winds. That would, I
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: More On The Minimum Wage
There has been very much a predictable reaction from business to the Wynne government’s decision to raise the Ontario minimum wage to $11 per hour as of June 1. Even though this modest increase will do little to lift the working poor out of poverty, the commercial sector is running
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Self-Interest Versus The Public Good
We Canadians talk a good game. We want our unemployed to be able to find jobs, we want those with the need to be able to readily access the social safety net, and we think the plight of the working poor is pitiable. But a question that we must confront
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