Their wages will drop because currently there is a Wage Top-Up program in place, and that runs until August 31st. The next day, the Wage Top-Up program will no longer be operational, and people who are making minimum wage will start receiving $15.20 an hour from their employer without that additional top-up. I just want to point out that the minimum wage is just that. It's a minimum wage. I think less than a thousand people in the territory make minimum wage. Most of them are between 15 and 24. Most of them are living at home, and perhaps a higher wage will help them get out of that house sooner. The fact is: this is not a demographic of people who are counting on a minimum wage to raise a family for the most part. A lot of those positions, as well, come with gratuities, so a number of those people making minimum wage also make tips on top of it.
I appreciate what the Member is saying. I was very happy to see that the wage top-up was extended because I do want to make sure that we are providing for our residents. However, we can't expect our businesses to absorb such a great increase in cost over the course of one summer from the $13.46 to something like $18 an hour. It's just not feasible. It's not the way businesses are structured right now. However, that being said, we have the second highest minimum wage in Canada. We will on September 1st. I think that's something to be celebrated. I don't think we've ever been in that position before. The only one with the higher minimum wage is Nunavut where the cost of living is much higher, as well, so it's appropriate for what we have in the territory.