Huron East Mayor says Living Wage Not Necessarily the Answer

by Bob Montgomery

Huron East Mayor Bernie MacLellan suggested to Huron County councillors this week that paying a living wage won't necessarily address the income disparity some people are experiencing.

MacLellan was quick to acknowledge he doesn't have the answer, but he says there are some significant flaws in providing everyone with a living wage. MacLellan says if every employer was forced to pay a living wage the costs of the products or services they provide would have to go up to cover the increase in their costs and then the living wage doesn't cover the cost now needed and you end up with a perpetual problem that continues to grow. MacLellan maintains that giving everyone a living wage would actually make inflation a bigger problem.

MacLellan says he believes the living wage was first introduced about five years ago, and at that time it was seventeen dollars an hour in Huron County, and now it's over twenty-two dollars, so in a five-year period it's grown more than twenty-five per cent. More money has gone into the economy, but it hasn't solved the problem. MacLellan says he doesn't have the answer but he believes throwing more money at it will only cause more problems down the road.