With Alberta this month officially having the lowest minimum wage (tied with Saskatchewan) in the country, there is now a great clamour that something be done to address the situation.

In fairness, there have been voices calling on the province for some time to increase the minimum wage, but the increases that took effect last week in Saskatchewan, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, and Manitoba — and the resulting distinction for Alberta — has certainly intensified the debate.

Of course, Alberta did not lower its minimum wage and it’s not entirely clear what relevance the minimum wage in other provinces is for us here. For that matter, it’s not even clear what the objective of this exercise is, other than some vague notion that our rate should not be the lowest. Does it stand to reason that if other provinces hadn’t raised their minimum wage, that the case for an increase here would be weaker? That seems illogical.

Before we rush to fix the problem, it would be........

© Calgary Herald