by Will Wachtmeister | Jun 19, 2015 | News
Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson has launched the idea of pioneering Canadian basic income together with the fellow Albertan city of Calgary.
Iveson said the evidence is “overwhelming” for introducing a basic income guarantee for all Canadians and believes Alberta’s two largest cities should host initial pilot schemes.
The mayor of Edmonton also said the two cities should closely involve the new center-left government of Alberta.
Iveson said that Edmonton and Calgary “may be in a position to pilot some different solutions” and noted that as partners they may be able to assist the Province of Alberta implement a basic income guarantee pilot.
Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi early last month [May 9 2015] made a strong commitment to BIG and is currently building support among fellow Canadian city leaders. Iveson said that mayors like himself “can help move the needle on public acceptance” towards basic income, given Canada’s non-partisan mayoral tradition.
Rachel Notley, leader of the center-left Alberta New Democratic Party, assumed office as province premier on 24 May [2015] marking the end of an unbroken 44-year period of center-right rule in the province.
Iveson said there was scope to build pro-basic income momentum across the political spectrum, including among conservatives.
For other stories on this topic, see these sources:
Roderick Benns, “Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson speaks out in favour of a basic income guarantee,” Leaders and Legacies, June 1, 2015
Roderick Benns, “Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi vows to take ‘leadership’ on basic income guarantee issue,” Leaders and Legacies, May 9, 2015
by Liam Upton | May 20, 2015 | News
A proposal by the EELV party in the Rhône-Alpes regional council for a feasibility study into a potential Basic Income pilot programme, has been defeated. The defeat came during the budget debate at the end of January this year.
The proposal, in the form of an amendment to the council’s 2015 budget, called for €80,000 to be set aside for a preliminary investigation into a ‘Universal Existence Income’ pilot programme in the Rhône-Alpes region.
EELV member, Olivier Keller, received a round of applause after making the proposal. During his speech he said, “Beyond clichés, it’s a matter of nothing less than giving meaning back to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which links dignity, due to every one of us, to the ability to fulfill one’s needs”
The EELV are part of the governing coalition in Rhône-Alpes, where fresh regional elections are due this year.
For more information, see:
Language: French
Stanislas Jourdan, “EELV propose la mise en place d’une expérimentation de revenu d’existence en région Rhône-Alpes [EELV propose implementation of a Universal Existence Income experiment in Rhône-Alpes region]”, Mouvement Français pour un Revenu de Base, 3 February 2015
Europe Écologie Les Verts, “Budget Primitif 2015 Étude Pour Une Experimentation Du Revenu Universel D’Éxistence En Région Rhône-Alpes / Auvergne [Preliminary Budget 2015 Study for an Experiment into a Universal Existence Income in Rhône-Alpes / Auvergne Region]”, Europe Écologie Les Verts, 29 January 2015
by Andre Coelho | Mar 13, 2015 | News
Scott Santens reports on a recently completed basic income pilot in Liberia. Results closely follow other cash
transfer programs, as money expenditure goes mainly to food, followed by school, housing, health, savings and clothing. Still according to the referred pilot study, one third of the recipients started businesses of their own, and the sharing of money and food grew. It seems clear that Basic Income works.
Scott Santens, “Guess what happened when Liberia tested a pilot program of cash transfers to the extreme poor in Bomi“, Scott Santens Blog, February 23 2015
by Andre Coelho | Mar 10, 2015 | News
Guy Standing describes, in the present article, the European Central Bank (ECB) as undemocratic, pushing countries to step back on social policies, ramping up insecurity and precariousness and generally representing the financial sector. He suggests directing a small 1% part of the recently deployed Quantitative Easing (QE) scheme to lower income regions, in the form of a basic income, on a pilot basis, suggesting payment for 12 or 24 months. Main benefits include reduced pressure to emigrate, boost aggregate demand and help reduce inequality.
Guy Standing, “Basic income pilots: a better option than QE“, Social Europe, February 9 2015
by Karl Widerquist | Jan 31, 2015 | News
Guy Standing, honorary co-President of BIEN, visited Groningen, Netherlands in the last week of January 2015 to discussing with locals the possibility of launching a pilot basic income scheme around there. He does not know yet whether the project will happen, but he says, the group seems very grounded, and the man on the council in charge of social policy seems keen. The discussions were filmed by public Dutch TV with the programme due to be put out in March 2015.
