Comments on: Canada’s Income Support Has Created A “Disincentive” To Work: National Bank

By: Lyle Hall

Lyle Hall — Sun, 29 Aug 2021 11:48:12 +0000

In reply to Kaliucla. I live in a rural area in Canada and we also cannot get unskilled labour. Construction and service industries are in huge demand due to the relocation of people from cities hundreds of kilometers away. We see the same "disincentives" keeping both new and past unskilled workers from seeking work despite a 30% increase in wages over minimum wage. Sitting at home, surfing the new internet, (provided by yet another government program for rural connectivity), is far more attractive.

By: backwardsevolution

backwardsevolution — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 10:04:10 +0000

In reply to Anthony van Engelen.

No, the government should stop artificially propping up the housing market, allowing interest rates to rise and prices to fall.

And the government should stop deliberately trying to raise wages by incentivizing people (through income support programs) to stay out of the work force.

When wages rise, that just means there’s more money out there chasing the same amount of goods, which then causes prices to rise. Pretty soon that raise you got doesn’t buy diddly-squat and you’re back at square one again – asking for more money.

The government needs to stop their manipulating and let prices fall. They are destroying lives and destroying the country.

By: Tom Wolfe

Tom Wolfe — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 02:29:44 +0000

In reply to Joe B.

Like virtually all of the people that work in the resorts we love so much?

We are famous for leaving token tips – spare pocket change, sunglasses, probably clothing too.

That’s the future of Canadians in Canada, accepting the cast offs of wealthy citizens from anywhere else, to survive.

By: Mary

Mary — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 01:56:36 +0000

I’ve seen this argument several times now and I find it annoying. “People aren’t running back to work because of the generous benefits.” Or the moral hazard: “The masses are inherently lazy and they need to be kept one paycheque away from homelessness and starvation in order to keep working their shitty jobs”. It’s an excuse to perpetuate poverty, the most profitable business of all time. There are so many reasons why people aren’t running back to their unskilled jobs and I agree with the ones mentioned about housing and youth and falling behind. But I never see anyone talk about how a global pandemic is still raging. Who works most of these precarious unskilled jobs? women. Who does almost all of the unpaid/uncompensated care work of children/elders/medically fragile people? BINGO. I am in Ontario where the pandemic exposed the neglect and abuse occurring in Long Term Care homes. The provincial government revealed its back to school plan which is basically giving a bottle of lysol for each classroom with a big shoulder shrug. Children and many medically fragile people cannot be vaccinated! Mothers and wives and daughters are the first and last line of defense for their loved ones who seem to be forgotten and left behind during this pandemic. So women aren’t going back to their fantastic service jobs in restaurants and grocery stores and walmart because they’re terrified of exposing the people who depend on them to COVID. They literally no longer have the time with all the slack they’ve had to pick up. And many of them never qualified for or received CERB benefits anyways.

By: Joe B

Joe B — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 01:49:17 +0000

What a broken system it is when so many people cannot afford to live in the very country they are required to pay taxes in.

By: Anthony van Engelen

Anthony van Engelen — Thu, 26 Aug 2021 20:38:49 +0000

In reply to Carolyn Goss. Isn't that the point? Why should businesses be entitled to unskilled labour if they aren't willing to pay more than income support programs? Income support should continue indefinitely, and this will force businesses to pay a living wage for unskilled labour.

By: vnm

vnm — Thu, 26 Aug 2021 19:22:32 +0000

The minimum wage was about $8/hr in 1990, it’s gone up about 80% to just over $14 in Ontario. Average rents have more than tripled in Toronto since then, as have subway tokens and most everything else. The minimum wage would need to be at least $25/hr to come close to when Toronto had already become borderline unaffordable.
Supporting a class of subhuman leech investors has simply become untenantable.

By: Joe B

Joe B — Thu, 26 Aug 2021 17:41:11 +0000

In reply to alex. Agreed, people are simply unwilling to trade their personal time for working time if they don’t have to. As income support pulls back I suspect the labor shortage will follow suit.

By: CG

CG — Thu, 26 Aug 2021 16:59:32 +0000

Totally agree re: the cost of housing combined with gov’t income supports being a disincentive for non-skilled labour to get back to work. I think Trudeau and company are testing a modified UBI and it shows it is NOT working. It was a stupid concept to begin with. Much better is any plan that incentivizes workers to go back to work wherein there is some support somewhere for productivity.

By: Eric

Eric — Thu, 26 Aug 2021 16:38:02 +0000

I have what I thought was a great job making 75k per year. But now that I have failed over and over trying to buy a house in the past year in my small BC hometown, and subsequently have been priced out of anything with enough size to house my family I am looking at mobile homes and small apartments as my only option. It has me wondering why even work… I work so hard just to pay rent and just keep falling further and further behind. I’m considering going onto government benefits and income assisted housing. Believe it or not, it would actually be an increase in quality of life vs working a job that pays 75k. My living situation would be similar and I would have more time to spend with my 2 young children.