www.insidehalton.com |OAKVILLE BEAVER |Thursday, June 8, 2017 |38 Unintended consequences of T he provincial government has introduced legislation that will increase the current minimum wage by over 30 per cent from $11.40 to $15 per hour over the next 18 months. Small business owners are expressing concern about the size and, in particular, the timing of the changes. Chamber members share the government's desire for broadly inclusive growth. However, in order to achieve this, we need to ensure we are not risking job losses, rising consumer costs, and economic hardship as a $ 1 5 minimum wage Faye Lyon s Vice-president Government Relations & Advocacy Oakville Chamber of Commerce result of over-regulation. The Ontario government's announcement of the Fair Workplaces and Better Jobs Plan, which proposes numerous changes to current labour and employment standards legislation will go to committee over the summer months. ^ H a lto n h alto n.ca (| 311 fffl YouiilfiB REGION NOTICE OF PUBLIC IN FO RM A TIO N CENTRE #2 CLASS ENVIRONM ENTAL ASSESSMENT STUDY N in th Line (R eg ion al Road 13) T ra n s p o rta tio n C o rrid o r Im p ro v e m e n ts D un das S treet (R egional Road 5) to 4 0 7 ETR (Express Toll R oute), Town o f O a k v ille an d Town o f M ilto n P R -3 0 36A /P R -3 037 A S tu d y Halton Region is undertaking a Municipal Class Environmental Assessment Study (Class EA) to consider a wide range of options for transportation corridor improvements to satisfy future travel demands to 2031 on Ninth Line from Dundas Street to 407 ETR (approximately 500m south of Lower Base Line) in the Town of Oakville and Town of Milton. In order to address both public safety and the future 2031 travel demand along Ninth Line, a number of road improvement alternatives have been examined as well as intersection improvements, active transportation and overall traffic operations. The impact of road improvements on social, cultural, economic and natural environments have been evaluated and assessed during the Study. Process The Study is being conducted in compliance with Schedule C of the Municipal Class Environmental Assessment (October 2000, amended 2007, 2011 and 2015), which is approved under the Ontario Environmental Assessment Act. A previous Public Information Centre (PIC) was held on June 16, 2016 to obtain public input. The final Public Information Centre to present the design concept alternatives, evaluation of alternatives and the recommended preferred design alternative has been arranged for: D ate: Tim e: Location: Thursday, June 22,2017 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. (drop-in meeting format) Town Hall Oakville (Palermo Room) 1225 Trafalgar Road, Oakville, ON Mr. M a tt Krusto Mr. S tephen Keen, P.Eng. C o m m ents If you are unable to attend the Public Information Centre and would like to provide comments, please forward them to the Project Team by Friday, July 14, 2017. For more information on this project, please visit the project website at h alto n .ca/E A p ro jects . Project Manager Project Manager Halton Region CIMA Canada Inc. (CIMA+) 1151 Bronte Road 3027 Harvester Road, Suite 400 Oakville, Ontario L6M 3L1 Burlington, Ontario L7N3G7 Tel: 905-825-6000 ext. 7225 Tel: 289-288-0287 ext. 6834 Fax: 905-825-3270 Fax: 289-288-0285 Email: matt.krusto@halton.ca Email: stephen.keen@cima.ca This Notice first issued on June 8, 2017. The recommendations include: · Raising Ontario's general minimum wage to $14 per hour on Jan. 1, 2018, and then to $15 on Jan. 1, 2019, followed by annual increases at the rate of inflation · Mandating equal pay for part time, temporary, casual and seasonal employees doing the same job as full time employees; and equal pay for temporary help agency employees doing the same job as permanent employees at the agencies' client companies · Expanding personal emergency leave to include an across-the-board minimum of at least two paid days per year for all workers · Ensuring at least three weeks' vacation after five years with a company · Updating employee scheduling rules, including requiring employees to be paid for three hours of work if their shift is cancelled within 48 hours of its scheduled start time. The cost of all of these benefits will be borne by small business owners. We believe the government has not yet fully understood the unintended consequences of these changes. Chamber members have expressed their frustration and concern over rising costs and over regulation. "It will impact our business cash flow and the costs will have to be passed on to the consumer. Because taxes with source deductions are going to be higher. We are not against an increase if it is done in increments and not as a total 32 per cent increase over a short period of time," said Noel Lourenco, of Boffo's. Many affected employers have told us that these changes will have the opposite effect of what the government is looking to achieve. One small business owner told us, since higher costs for delivery will be passed down from the supplier to the merchant, it will result in inflation and that they will be forced to pass the higher costs on to the consumer. We have also heard from members who say the impact will be felt throughout their businesses. & Please contact us, as soon as possible, if you have any accessibility needs at Halton Region events or meetings. se eR e a c tio no np .42