In light of the latest campaign promise from NDP leader, Jagmeet Singh, the question above is not unreasonable.

Today Singh announced that he will raise the minimum wage in Canada to a “living wage” which is quoted as being $21,75 per hour in Toronto right now.

If the solution to people living in poverty is so simple as forcing businesses to pay higher wages, why on earth would anybody stop at $21,75 per hour? Why not $50? Or $100 per hour?

Seriously, if you are going to completely ignore the impact that massive minimum wage hikes would have on employment, the cost of living and the economy in general, you may as well shoot for the moon and try to make everybody rich right?

The Bank of Canada reported that as many as 60,000 jobs may be lost due to minimum wage hikes at the $15 level. What do you think will happen at $21,75? How many jobs will be lost? How much higher will the cost of everything go? How much more investment will be driven from Canada?

Everybody wants somebody else to pay everybody else more money. Alas, life and economics just don’t work that way.

The bottom line is that if raising minimum wage by massive amounts was actually an effective policy to fight poverty, every developed country in the world would be doing it already.

Just as rent controls actually lead to less affordable housing and just as printing money to pay the debt only leads to hyperinflation, raising minimum wages have a negligible impact on poverty at best.

That won’t stop myopic dingdongs such as Singh from trying though.

Normally we can dismiss the ramblings of an economic illiterate such as Jagmeet Singh but we are in a singular situation with the way this upcoming federal election may play out.

Jagmeet Singh may hold the balance of power in a minority Trudeau government!

Rational people wouldn’t bring in a $21.75 minimum wage but we won’t be dealing with rational people.

Elizabeth May could be part of a coalition too.

Just imagine the damage that triad of twits could cause!

A $15 wage hike has harmed businesses in the retail and hospitality industries. A hike to $21.75 will decimate it.

If indeed we go down this road, we may as well go full bore.

Raise the wage to $100 per hour. Lets do a service to the world to show just how idiotic this approach to the economy is.

If Trudeau, Singh and May are running the nation, we will have little to lose anyway.