Having discovered that the new $14 an hour minimum wage is, not surprising, wildly popular with lower paid employees the Liberals are once again trafficking in wedge politics spreading falsities about where the Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown on the issue.
The latest fib came courtesy of a campaign-style stop at a Toronto café last week by Labour Minister Kevin Flynn that Brown had been showing mixed signals on the issue.
“I’m convinced by past practice with the Conservatives on this issue that they would roll it back or that they would at least attempt to roll it back,” the minister said to the media.
He added with a straight face: “So you’ve got Tory MPPs saying they don’t support the increase; you’ve got the party saying it does support the increase; and you’ve got a party leader that appears to have dropped out of sight on this issue right now.”
President of Ontario Federation of Labour Chris Buckley addresses protesters outside a Tim Hortons Franchise in Toronto on Wednesday January 10, 2018. Labour organizations across Ontario are holding rallies today to protest the actions some Tim Hortons franchises have taken in response to an increase in the province’s minimum wage.
Flynn was following in the footsteps of Attorney General Yasir Naqvi, who was peddling similar fears in a confidential plea by email to one of his constituents. Naqvi, in begging for $10, fasely wrote: “The Conservatives have proposed to cut $12 billion in funding from essential services and programs that millions of people rely on. They’ll start by killing the minimum wage increase.”
Brown’s position on the minimum wage increase has been a consistent one. He agreed with it in the fall. In the recently published campaign manifesto, the “People’s Guarantee,” he reiterated his party’s support for it. The only difference with the Liberals’ plan is that they would slow it down to ease the strain on small business.
Conservative MPP John Yakabuski explained that the PCs would slow the climb to $15 an hour, incrementally moving the minimum wage from the current 21% increase to $14 on January 1, 2018 to 2022.
PC. leader Patrick Brown along with L-R, MPP Vic Fedeli, MPPJeff Yurek, MPP Todd Smith and MPP John Yakabuski comment on Frasier Institute report at Queens Park in Toronto, Ont. on Wednesday February 17, 2016. (Dave Thomas/Toronto Sun)
The current problem for the Liberals is that they attempt to brand Brown as some Donald Trump of the North just isn’t sticking because it’s not supported by the facts. They can’t get their narrative to stick. Brown has moved the PC party to the middle of the spectrum while Wynne is mostly operating from the left except when she became a right-winger and sold half of Hydro One to get some extra cash for her pet projects.
The Liberals’ disinformation campaign shows how ugly it’s going to get as we get closer to next June’s provincial election. Last week’s latest Forum Research Poll continues to show a near obliteration of the Liberals and may explain the panic in the Liberal ranks. The PCs remain in a commanding lead with 43% of popular support, the Liberals unchanged at 24% and the New Democratic party matching the Liberals’ 24%. This would translate in the PCs securing 88 seats, the NDP with 24 seats and the Liberals reduced to third-party status with only 12 seats.
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne talks to media at the Confederation of Tomorrow 2.0 Conference in Toronto on Tuesday December 12, 2017. The premier of Ontario is accusing the children of Tim Hortons’ billionaire co-founders of bullying their employees by reducing their benefits in response to the province’s increased minimum wage.
But while the Liberals are throwing mud at Brown that’s not sticking, it’s a great strategy to change the channel on bad economic news. Not only does the auditor general and the Financial Accountability Office still maintain, contrary to Wynne’s position, that Ontario is still in a deficit position, the provincial is still a “have-not” province, having to rely on equalization payment from the federal government to the tune of $1.4 billion in 2018.
It’s no wonder the Liberals are trading in diversionary tactics.