It is called a livable wage, that is what people need. Minimum wage or a mere 25 cents an hour more doesn't count.

Do not forget that this province has the 6 bucks sucks law. A new youth employee is only paid 6 dollars for the first 500 hours on the job. Course what a lot of employers in town do is as the kids come up on the 500 hours they get laid off, fired or some other reason to get rid of the kid. The 500 hours, is deemed the training time it takes to get the child up to speed in the job.

That is over 60 days, of training to learn an entry level job. Get serious !

Bull! Why would someone have smiles on their faces working for 6-8 bucks an hour? Thorpe is just about as bright as Richmond who says "no one in Kamloops works for 8 bucks an hour, all they have to do is walk down the road for a better paying job." He has an excuse though I think the oldtimer is senile.

He isn't working for $8 and hour either

He's right, though. It is not all about wages. Its only 95% about wages in those jobs. The other 5% is about being treated nicely. Mind you, double the wage and not nice treatment becomes more bearable.

Does anyone know what is meant by the statement that employers are "coming up with more creative ideas than they ever have before to enhance and look after their employees." Or does "creative" just mean not involving money?

(Thorpe says keeping employees isn’t all about wages “Let’s just look at this store here, the employees here, the smiles on their faces, the happy faces. It’s not always about wages.”)
What a stupid remark for someone to make, particularly someone in his position. It goes to show that, one doesn't require much brain matter in order to qualify to be a politician. Its to bad that politicians are not paid, in percentage to their brain capacity. I would doubt, very many of them would qualify, for any more than the minimum wage, they themselves have regulated on their constituents.

Thorpe is a typical politician,totally out of touch with reality!
Small businesses DO NOT pay more than minimum wage if they can get away with it.
(neither do a lot of the bigger ones)
And many of the employers are family run who practially live at their place of business (I am trying to be politically correct here) and they really don't give a damn about their employees!
They treat them like slaves and that's a fact of life!
They only need one or two people and really don't care about whether or not they are "happy"!
Who the hell has a smile on their face when they get their paycheque that they busted their ass for,and it barely supports them for the next two weeks,if at all?
If the cost of living,housing,food,and the clothes on your back go up in price,as it has done,people need more money.
What the hell don't people like Thorpe get about that?
What an ass!
And another writer was correct.
B.C. does have the 6 buck issue for young people that many employers take advantage of.
I guess he just forgot to mention that?
Ya right!

Come on Thorpe lets get real here.You should work for ten dollars an hour for a year or two and see how you make out.

And if there is so many jobs out there that need filling,how come there are so many homeless people unemployed?
They are not ALL handicapped.

Heaven forbid that the Liberals would increase the minimum wage. Using propaganda like "most places are already paying more than minimum wage" allows for wages to be returned to criminally low when the economy turns around, and the economy takes a nose dive. Capitalism demands a large unemployed base to maintain the artificially low wages we are seeing more and more. By refusing to raise the wage now financial enslavement will return when the economy goes in the tank in 2015 or sooner. Look at history every new century starts with boom and then goes into crash. this century will be no different. The rich continue to get richer while the poor continue to get fleeced.

Thorpe is a preening gas bag!

This province is going to see a major downturn that will start just before the Olympics and all the big lower mainland projects like the Convention Center,Olympic facilities,Sea to Sky etc. are completed.
If it even takes that long!
I have never heard so much pump and dump by politicians in many years!
Something is not quite right here!
Seems there is a much bigger picture behind it all than we are seeing!
The economy isn't just based on what is happening in B.C.
It has to do with what is happening in the world in general.
Oil $90.00 buck a barrel,Gold going up and up,and the canadian/US dollar parity as well.
Something is going to give!

I can't imagine any person not still living at home with mom & dad making a go of it out on their own for less than $10 per hour. Maybe two incomes, but not one. Chester

This is a prime example of what we are paying for.

Thorpe makes good money, and he can look down on those that dont and make assinine statements.

No wonder this Country is in trouble

I still don't understand where free will comes into play. Nobody is FORCED to work at minimum wage. So lets say the government raises the min to $10 an hour, what happens to all the workers who were making between $8-$10 an hour? They all of a sudden have written off their work experience as I can assure you a company won't give them the difference in wage. Many people that I know who work for minimum wage put themselves there, we are crying for tradespeople. And I must add that the rich may make a good portion of the money but they also pay a good portion of the taxes. The minimum wage is good enough to keep the basic necessities, during university I lived off of $700 a month and did not suffer one bit. I shared an apartment, didn't eat out and didn't have a car. The problem is that people making minimum wage want the same things as people who make 2-3x it. Cut the cable, the internet, get rid of the car, if you want those things, improve yourself, get more skills and heaven forbid, be willing to move, go to school or show some initiative. Sure these options may involve some will but it would be discriminatory to think that people making minimum wage don't have the skills, intelligence, or motivation to improve themselves. If you don't like making $8 an hour do something for yourself, don't ask others to do it for you.

weezerfan, you write a good story, the only problem being, the only one who believes it, is you.

weezerfan fails to recognize that he is not all people and all people are not him. Some folk do not have the ability to work beyond the min. wage jobs. some do not have the wherewithall to go to university. Does that give us a right to pay them wages that are less than fair? Many employers treat their staff well but there are many that do not and sometimes even the better of employers can wind up with a jerkwater boss who is happy to "churn" him employees just to keep the wage demands down. This is particularily true when we are talking about those that are not highly skilled. Weezerfan also fails to recognize that not everyone is able to sell themselves and thus changing jobs becomes a much more risky and major effort. The minimium wage needs to go up. It needs to go up across the board. 6 bucks sucks need to go entirely.

"Oil $90.00 buck a barrel,Gold going up and up,and the Canadian/US dollar parity as well.'

What better time than now to pump the oil out of the ground and the natural gas, the gold, copper, silver, platinum, molybdenum, nickel, etc and sell it to those who are lining up to buy!

There are forestry, fishing, tourism, manufacturing, communications, banking...

Consider this:

British Columbia. Area 364,764 square miles. Has all of the above resources and a population of only about 4 million.

Germany. Area 137,858 square miles, no natural resources to speak of, no oil, no natural gas, no gold, copper, silver, platinum, molybdenum, nickel.

Population 84 million. 21 times that of B.C. Size about one third of that of B.C.

So, what exactly is our problem?

We shouldn't have any.

weezerfan your right! You either work your ass off to get ahead or go to school. There should be no free handouts in life.

Thorpe says keeping employees isn’t all about wages “Let’s just look at this store here, the employees here, the smiles on their faces, the happy faces. It’s not always about wages.

Sounds like "Fantasy Island".

Either he's stoned or the employees are.


It's not always about wages, only when the wage at one place matches the other. Then, it's about being happy, etc.

Last time I checked, the landlord still expects you to pay cash for the rent, they don't take smiles.

They must be passing the happy grass for sure. Working your a$$ off for 8 dollars an hour isn't what I would call a handout. The employers should start to take care of their "valuble" staff members instead of having them walking out the door because they don't feel appreciated for what they do. I see business owners spending way more money on training than anything else because of this attitude. Maybe if they thought of their own best interests instead of how much slave labor they could aquire they would be better off?? I don't think a higher minimun wage is necessarily the answer, but maybe it will have to be forced on the employers as they can't seem to figure out for themselves that an appreciated staff member is an asset to their company.

It isn't always about wages. Being happy doing what you like to do is often much more important than making more money in a job you dread.

There is nothing more pleasant than to see an enthusiastic, polite, happy employee. I would expect that their talents and disposition would be noticed and appreciated by an employer and compensated accordingly.

On the other hand, when you are employed by a huge chain with pay grids that are not determined by your gifts, you move up the ranks (maybe) with very little opportunity to break out of a fixed pay grid. I suppose one would have to make a decision whether this is where they want to work or not.

Not every business is in a position to pay for a benefit package for all of their employees. That is not realistic in my opinion. Chester

There is a ton of big business out there that chose to crap on there employees by not paying the wages or benefits.I can't wait to see the day nobody works for them.And yes it is coming and fast.

Why not get rid of the minimum wage regulation, this government has decimated the act anyway. After all, who does this regulation really protect, 'THE BUSINESSES", remove this arbtrary regulation, then listen to excuses come from the business people and extol the regulation benefits, and how 'MUCH IT PROTECTS" the 'poor" wage earner. The minimum wage act is designed to protect the business's, as does the WCB act. I realize that some people here will think, what is he saying. Ask your self this. What happens when a person signs on with a union? Is that person still regulated under the minimum wage act regulation? Now, let us suppose that this ( min, wage act) regulation was removed, those people, that Thrope so alluded to, who were so pleased, and tickled pink with their employer, could now work at $3 per hr, or $4 or $2, whatever deal they wanted to make with him, as obviously, money was not an issue, happiness was all that mattered. Those at other places of employment, who were unhappy with their $8-$10 per hr could demand and or negotiate a higher wage and benefit. Presently speaking, should you not want to negotiate directly with an employer, join or start a union. When I say union, I mean a real bonafide union , not a rat union, for those of you not familiar with the term 'rat union", this a company controlled union. Worst of all worlds. Phone or go see any bonafide union, they will be happy to assist you, not sure who is bonafide. Phone the 'BC Federation of Labour", they will steer you in the right direction.

"the smiles on their faces, the happy faces. It’s not always about wages."
-Its always about the wages regardless if your happy at your job or not, if it wasnt then no one would go to work ever. Unless your a pornstar then you can say its not about the wages.

What people need to come to grips with is what and who dedides what a meaningful wage is, and what exactly do you have to do to earn it.

As an example. A janitor who sweeps floors and cleans the toilets at the Pulp Mills would get paid somewhere in the area of $18.00per hour or more. A janitor doing the same job for a cleaning contractor would get $8.00 per hour. They are both doing the same job. One is unionized the other isnt.

Any Government clerk will get paid approx $18.00 per hour. Clerk in Banks or some other private business would be lucky to get $10.00 per hour and probably do twice as much work.

People should get paid in proportion to the value they bring to a job, and Management, and highly educated individuals, and politicians should not be the only ones who decide what that value is.

The man who produces the food that keeps you alive is just as important as the politician who taxes him, or the people who sell him the machinery to do his job.

We have totally lost touch with reality when it comes to wages, and the amount of actual work or production that is associated with it. Every person in BC who makes in excess of $50,000.00 should get a 10% reduction in wages and this money should go toward paying those at the bottom who do not have a means of demanding higher wages and benefit.

This of course would never happen because the mindset in this country is **I got mine buddy, and you can get yours the same way** Of course they cant, but that matters little.

What people need to come to grips with is what and who dedides what a meaningful wage is, and what exactly do you have to do to earn it.

As an example. A janitor who sweeps floors and cleans the toilets at the Pulp Mills would get paid somewhere in the area of $18.00per hour or more. A janitor doing the same job for a cleaning contractor would get $8.00 per hour. They are both doing the same job. One is unionized the other isnt.

Any Government clerk will get paid approx $18.00 per hour. Clerk in Banks or some other private business would be lucky to get $10.00 per hour and probably do twice as much work.

People should get paid in proportion to the value they bring to a job, and Management, and highly educated individuals, and politicians should not be the only ones who decide what that value is.

The man who produces the food that keeps you alive is just as important as the politician who taxes him, or the people who sell him the machinery to do his job.

We have totally lost touch with reality when it comes to wages, and the amount of actual work or production that is associated with it. Every person in BC who makes in excess of $50,000.00 should get a 10% reduction in wages and this money should go toward paying those at the bottom who do not have a means of demanding higher wages and benefit.

This of course would never happen because the mindset in this country is **I got mine buddy, and you can get yours the same way** Of course they cant, but that matters little.

It does sort of make you wonder why the politicians in B.C.think THEY are worth so much money and nobody else is?
What a bunch of arrogant crap!
We really DO need an election to tune a few of them up!

The minister for small business has obviously nrver had to operate a business, judging from his statements he is clueless. Or possibly his handlers should come up with some better quips for him to blurt out, and tell him what situations are appropriate for his blurtations.
But, at the risk of repeating my self (again) raise the minimum wage, make it law to pay a minimum benefit package to ALL employees, and all the retail stores will be on the same footing. I also agree with what weezer said, show some initiative. Those who do definitely stand out from the crowd these days.
metalman.