by Yannick Vanderborght | Jul 17, 2014 | News
François Blais - Photo: OIF, via Le Devoir
In a an interview with the daily newspaper Le Devoir (30 June 2014), François Blais – who was appointed Minister of Employment and Social Solidarity after the April 2014 General Election in Quebec – cautiously reiterates his support for basic income. As BIEN was holding its international conference in Montreal, Blais stressed the fact that a thorough reform of Quebec’s social model would be most welcome, provided it would include the introduction of a “guaranteed minimum income” for all. Blais also insisted on the fact that this was not an official statement of the Quebec’s government, but rather his own position on this issue. In 2001, Blais had published an introductory book on basic income in French, which was translated into English in 2002: “Ending Poverty. A Basic Income for all Canadians” (Lorimer Publishing).
The interview can be found here (in French).
by Josh Martin | Jul 14, 2014 | News
[Josh Martin]
Kari Polanyi Levitt, Emerita Professor of Economics at McGill University in Montreal and an active colleague of the Basic Income Earth Network, has received the honor of becoming a Member of the Order of Canada.
Her citation reads as follows: “For her contributions to the establishment of international development studies as an interdisciplinary academic field, and for her research on political economy in the Caribbean.” Kari Polanyi Levitt is the daughter of famous economic historian, Karl Polanyi.
The full list of new recipients can be viewed here.
Emerita Professor of Economics Kari Polanyi Levitt of McGill Universtiy (Photo by Aneel Karim, Copyright University of the West Indies)
by Karl Widerquist | Jun 12, 2014 | News
John Ralston Saul via Wikipedia
John Ralston Saul, (born June 19, 1947), a Canadian author and essayist, recently endorsed BIG. His comments came in response to a question about the “Guaranteed Annual Income”–the name by which the Basic Income Guarantee is most commonly known in Canada. Saul replied in plain and highly supportive language, “In order to save public money, I’m in favor of it, and also to bring a certain level of dignity. It’s clear that the managerial approach is to have a multitude of programs, which have to be managed, and which give them power over individuals, whereas a Guaranteed Annual Income would be very cheap, and would remove that power from them.”
To see a video of Saul’s endorsement, go to: Jack Saturday, “John Ralston Saul’s View of Basic Income,” June 11, 2014.
by Harry Pitts | May 30, 2014 | Research
Stanislas Jourdan, “A Way to Get Healthy: Basic Income Experiments in Canada”, Basic Income UK: Towards an emancipatory welfare, 7th August 2013.
by Karl Widerquist | May 29, 2014 | News
The Basic Income Canada Network (BICN) and The BIG Push campaign have announced the following leadership changes. Rob Rainer, the founder of The BIG Push in April 2013 and its volunteer director since that time, has taken on the role of Interim Executive Director of the Green Party of Canada (covering a maternity leave until the end of March). Rob will continue to serve for BICN, volunteering primarily on building the national campaign network and on fundraising. Rob can continue to be reached at rob.causeworth@gmail.com.
Kelly Ernst has accepted the role of Secretary General for BICN and will take over the campaign director role, continue to co-chair the 2014 International BIEN Congress, and take on overall leadership of BICN. Kelly was the Chairperson of BICN for the past two years. He was also Senior Program Director of the Sheldon Chumir Foundation for Ethics in Leadership for five years and President and CEO of the Canadian Outcomes Research Institute for six years. For BICN and BIG Push-related information, Kelly can now be contacted at kernst@biencanada.ca.
Sheila Regehr is the new Chairperson of BICN, having been a member of the board for two years. Sheila is the previous Executive Director of the National Council of Welfare, a former, longstanding federal advisory body. She has 29 years of extensive policy development experience related to income security. Sheila can now also be reached at sregehr@biencanada.ca.
See also the BICN website: https://biencanada.ca/
And the BIG Push Campaign website: https://www.thebigpush.net/
The BIG Push
