On a side note:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704881304576094221050061598.html?mod=rss_opinion_main

"Mr. Williams distinguished himself in the mid-1970s through his research on the effects of the Davis-Bacon Act of 1931—which got the government involved in setting wage levels—and on the impact of minimum-wage law on youth and minority unemployment. He concluded that minimum wages caused high rates of teenage unemployment, particularly among minority teenagers. His research also showed that Davis-Bacon, which requires high prevailing (read: union) wages on federally financed or assisted construction projects, was the product of lawmakers with explicitly racist motivations."

Yeah, minimum wage legislation often results in higher unemployment amongst teens and young adults because businesses often don't want to risk the full wage on a person who has yet had enough experience to prove that they would make a good employee (punctuality, attendance, workshyness, etc), and so the minimum wage prices them out of the market.

In the UK, the Government tried to get around it by staggering minimum wage legislation as to reflect the increased risk. As always, they got it wrong, and young persons unemployment is still the highest in the country. They could lower the young person's minimum wages, or kill them entirely, though I'm sure that won't be politically popular. Of course, this will also just shift the unemployment across to the next bracket of workers. Minimum wage legislation just distorts the markets.

We don't have a minimum wage here.

In Ontario its over $10.

High minimum wage isn't necessarily a good thing. Higher minimum wage = job cuts and plants moving to mexico/china. 

To compare to America, this is $9.50 or so.

Of course you've got to keep in mind cost of living which is generally higher then in the US.

Which is the real reason the state minimium wages are different in the US.

Might I add, I don't like how tipping in the US has gone from "Sign of appreciation" to "Must be done or the person can't eat."

It turns something that used to be classy into something that's a built in cost to your meal.

Might I add, I don't like how tipping in the US has gone from "Sign of appreciation" to "Must be done or the person can't eat."

It turns something that used to be classy into something that's a built in cost to your meal.

If i was a politican i'd work to remove exceptions to minium wage... sure you'd probably end up paying more, as you'd have to pay more for the food to cover minium wage, and then tip on top of that.

But it's just the principle of the matter.  I tend to not tip anything less then 20% even with shitty service, because well, those people freakin need the money... and everyone can have a bad day.

I got tired of it too. Everytime I went out to eat with friends we always tipped 10% regardless of service, if I chose to with hold because the service sucked my friends would throw me on a guilt trip. Then my friend started tipping 15% which he said was the norm and pressured me to do so as well. Then late 2010 my friend started tipping 20% and my other friends began to too.

Finally I said no, I will tip only when the service is exseptionally good. And no I won't tip 20% I can't afford to do that I'm low income (For Canada). Now a few friends don't go out to eat with me anymore but honestly screw them, I can't afford to pay 20% more for every meal I eat.

Also I realized something. Why do waitresses deserve a tip to begin with? They get paid 8.95-10$ an hour to do their job just like everyone else sometimes more then everyone else. A female friend of mine said she was making 200$ a night in tips. Why does she deserve 200$ a night when the construction workers don't or the fast food joint employees don't or the janitors or any other job.

Why do we tip waitresses? Is their job really that hard? Is it really worth 15%-20% I have never been tipped for any of the jobs I have had (Security, Janitor, retail) why does a waitress deserve a tip?

I'm gonna make a thread about this?

I imgine you do so because you do in the US.

In Europe tipping isn't really such a big thing.

In the US waiters and other "tip" proffesions get paid well below minium wage, and therefore you NEED to tip.   Not sure if that's how it works in Canada or not.