"I hope I'm not working on a three-year term."

Those are the words of Heather Vanaalst, owner of Home Ground Coffee in Okotoks, in regards to the NDP's plan to raise minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2018.

The government is taking its first step towards that goal by raising the minimum wage by $1 on Oct. 1, 2015.

Vanaalst says the immediate increase won't affect her much, as she currently pays her employees a few dollars above minimum wage.

But, she says when the $15 per hour wage rolls around, she'll have to increase her prices, which she fears will drive customers away.

"So, you come in for a coffee and a treat, it costs, you on average, $6.25," she says. "So, by then, when you come in, it's going to cost you $9.75 for the same thing. I think for most people to go out for a coffee and a cinnamon bun, for example, $9.75 is too much money."

Vanaalst says she believes the increase will be counter-productive, as wage increases will lead to price increases, which will affect the consumers who are making minimum wage the most.

"I think for everyone there will be a price increase," she says. "For me, it equates to about 30 per cent. I don't know what it means for big-businesses, but I would suspect they would absorb that directly to you. So, you make make $15 per hour, but everything you but is going to cost you 30 per cent more, so would you be any farther ahead?"

Vanaalst says when she looks past the effects the wage increase will have on her and other small businesses, she feels those who are making just over $15 an hour will feel the negative affects as well.

"Maybe you don't make minimum wage, so you're on salary somewhere, your wage isn't going to go up," she says. "You're still going to work for whatever you work for. So, to come here every day and spend that extra thirty per cent, you may not have that money in your pocket, plus everything else you do is going to cost you more money too."

Vanaalst says if the NDP's minimum wage increase does go forward as planned, she fears a number of businesses in Okotoks, including her own, will eventually close.