How the minimum-wage fight will shape cabinet

Campbell will have to consider who will represent the social progressives – let's call them the Liberal wing – in his coalition party

B.C. Dispatch
The Globe and Mail

t was a vulnerable niche in the B.C. Liberals' election platform: an eight-year freeze in the minimum wage that has made the province one of the worst places in the country for workers on the bottom rung.

Premier Gordon Campbell insisted a pay hike would kill jobs, but a majority of British Columbians – two out of three – canvassed midway through the election campaign said $8 an hour isn't enough.

There were those in the B.C. cabinet who could have predicted it was a dangerous wedge issue and argued for change early in 2007: Wally Oppal, Carole Taylor, Olga Ilich. Pending a judicial recount in Mr. Oppal's case, all those voices are now gone.

As he puts together his next cabinet, Mr. Campbell will have to consider more than the usual mix of regional, gender and ethnic balances. He also might consider who will represent the social progressives – let's call them the Liberal wing – in his coalition party.

But if the acid test is the minimum wage, it's unlikely there are many champions willing to step forward.

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