Minimum Wage Hike in Platform

THUNDER BAY – Today Mary Kozorys, NDP candidate for Thunder Bay-Atikokan, said NDP Leader Andrea Horwath’s announcement today to reduce small business taxes while increasing the minimum wage, makes sense to help create local jobs.

“An increase in the minimum wage to $12 will ensure that families get a raise while tax relief for small businesses ensures they can grow and create local jobs,” Kozorys said.

Kozorys said the NDP’s plan is a responsible approach for small businesses that will help them sustain the increase to the minimum wage with a reduction in the Small Business Corporate Tax.

Under the NDP’s plan, small business tax rates will fall from 4.5% to 3% by 2016. By the same year, minimum wage will increase to $12/hr and it will be indexed it to inflation. Kozorys said that cutting the small business tax rate by 0.5 per cent each year will provide small business owners with yearly tax relief to offset the increase to the minimum wage.

“After more than 10 years of Liberal mismanagement, people in Northwestern Ontario have seen manufacturing jobs disappear and mills across the North shut down while their bills continue to climb. Creating new local jobs depends on small businesses that are the backbone of the local economy,” concluded Kozorys.