The premier of Ontario lashed out at the children of Tim Hortons’ billionaire co-founders on Thursday for reducing the benefits of their employees in response to the latest minimum wage increase, calling it a “clear act of bullying.”Kathleen Wynne said if Ron Joyce Jr., whose father co-founded the coffee shop chain, was opposed to the Liberal government’s decision to raise the minimum wage, he should have picked a fight with her, not the workers.“I’d be happy if this man were making a statement about the government or about the policy,” she said. “What I think is really unfair, and where I think the bullying comes in, is that he’s taking this out on his employees. He’s behaving in a way that I think is so unfair to his employees, people who are trying to make ends meet.”In a letter sent late last month, Joyce Jr. and his wife, Jeri Horton-Joyce — daughter of the company’s other co-founder, Tim Hortons, told employees at two Tim Hortons restaurants they own in Cobourg, Ont., that as of Jan. 1, they would no longer be entitled to paid breaks, and would have to pay at least half of the cost of their dental and health benefits.The couple said the measures were aimed at helping their company — Ron Joyce Jr. Enterprises Ltd. — offset the $2.40 hourly rate jump.Wynne, who faces a tough bid for re-election this spring, has staked her political future on policies like the minimum wage plan.“When I read the reports about Ron Joyce, Jr., who is a man whose family founded Tim Hortons, the chain was sold for billions of dollars, and when I read how he was treating his employees, it just felt to me like this was a pretty clear act of bullying,” she said.Wynne has talked for months about themes of fairness and opportunity in Ontario’s growing economy with the caveat that some workers are being left behind. The premier has said her minimum wage plan, which saw the rate ju ...
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