by Liam Upton | Jun 15, 2015 | News
A former Conservative senator and the Association of Local Public Health Agencies of Ontario have recently expressed their support for Basic Income, joining a number of prominent politicians, political parties and NGOs who now support the introduction of a Basic Income in Canada
The NGO, the Association of Public Health Agencies in Ontario, an organisation of boards of health and public health units across the province, declared their support at a meeting on the 8th of June. The support comes after the health unit of Simcoe Daskoka, Ontario first came out in favour of the policy at the start of June. The support is part of a commitment to focus on the social determinants of health, with income and income distribution the first considered. In the adopted resolution, the association point out “1,745,900 Ontarians, or 13.9 percent of the population, live in low income according to the 2011 National Household Survey after-tax low-income measure.” They join Food Banks Canada (p2), another prominent NGO who declared support for Basic Income recently.
Michael Meighen, a former Conservative senator is another supportive voice. The Québec native, who ran for parliament in support of Basic Income at the 1972 and 74 general elections has re-iterated his support in a recent interview. He cited some uncertainties around support for the proposal, saying ‘That’s where pilot projects come in – we have to test it’, suggesting that successful tests will make the policy easier to promote politically. He joins Hugh Segal, another former Conservative senator in favour of Basic Income.
Another politician, this time Ontario Liberal MPP Jeff Leal also had encouraging words about Basic Income, saying, “This would go a long way to eliminate poverty in Canada”, and added “As long as it is designed in such a way that it wouldn’t create a welfare wall as a disincentive for individuals to move into the workforce, I certainly believe that can be done”.
These voices join the mounting calls for Basic Income in Canada in recent months. As well as the above mentioned Food Banks Canada, a number of prominent politicians have also declared their support. At a recent conference on poverty in Prince Edward Island, the leader of every party contesting the provincial election voiced their support, while the federal Liberal Party also adopted Basic Income as a policy at its national conference last year. Even more recently, the mayors of Alberta’s capital and two biggest cities, Calgary and Edmonton also voiced their support, with Calgary mayor Don Nenshi calling for mayors to work together to push for its implementation.
For more information, see:
Roderick Benns, “Ontario’s association of health units green lights basic income as policy“, Leaders and Legacies, 10 June 2015
Roderick Benns, “Second prominent Conservative speaks out in favour of basic income pilot projectsLeaders and Legacies, 10 June 2015
Todd Vandonk, “Could a guaranteed basic income solve our poverty problems?”, myKawartha.com, 12 June 2015
by Toby | Sep 21, 2014 | Research
Basic Income flyer
The author discusses a basic income proposal from Canadian Conservative Senator Hugh Segal, explaining what it entails and why providing a guaranteed basic income would be more cost-efficient than the current system. He also discusses the 1970s Mincome experiment.
Nigel Todman, “Canada could eliminate Poverty and Homelessness overnight. But will they?”, North American Association of Independent Journalists, 10 November 2013
by Karl Widerquist | Dec 13, 2013 | News
Rob Rainer of the BIG Push Campaign
A new poll conducted by the Environics Institute for Survey Research found that support in Canada for a “guaranteed annual income” (GAI), a form of Basic Income Guarantee (BIG), leads opposition by a margin of 46 to 42 percent. An additional 6 percent of Canadians answering the poll said that their support for GAI would depend on how the policy was implemented. The remaining 5 percent had no answer or no opinion. Adding the people willing to support BIG under at least some circumstances increases the margin of support to 52-42.
This was the first national poll ever conducted in Canada on basic income guarantee. Of those surveyed, 19 percent answered that they strongly favor the policy; 27 percent somewhat favor; 17 percent somewhat oppose; and 25 percent strongly oppose the policy. Karl Widerquist, co-chair of the Basic Income Earth Network said, “This is extremely important result. It is to my knowledge the first national poll showing more support for than opposition to a full-sized Basic Income Guarantee.”
Support was strongest in Quebec where an outright majority, 55 percent, of respondents favored GAI.
Conservative Senator Hugh Segal is one of the few legislators who has come out in support of a guaranteed annual income. -PETER BREGG / CP, the Toronto Star
The poll was somewhat ambiguous about which form of BIG was being queried. The two major variants of BIG are basic income (BI) and negative income tax (NIT). BI gives a grant to everyone regardless of other income; NIT gives a grant only to those with low income and phases it out as income rises. One question in the poll asked whether economic assistance programs should be equally available to all or only to those most in need, and 65 percent of respondents favored universal availability.
However the exact wording of the question on GAI was, “Some people believe the best way to help economically disadvantaged people is to provide them with something called a ‘guaranteed annual income.’ Would you favour or oppose a guaranteed annual income policy for Canadians, to replace the current economic assistance programs?” The survey further explained, “This would involve every Canadian receiving a specific amount of money from the government each year, which would then be ‘clawed back’ with every dollar of income people earn. Such a program is intended to ensure everyone has enough money for the basic necessities, and would replace other forms of economic assistance, like welfare and unemployment insurance.” If the grant is “clawed back” through taxes on income, while people still receive the grant, it is a basic income, but if it is “clawed back” by actually reducing the grant, it is a negative income tax.” Probably different respondents had different ideas about whether the GAI would fallow a BI or an NIT model.
The poll was a telephone survey of 1,501 adult Canadians. It was conducted between September 17 and October 13, 2013. The so-called “margin of error” of the poll was plus or minus 2.5 percentage points, meaning that 19 times out of 20, a poll conducted in this manner would be within 2.5 percentage points of actual national opinion (assuming sampling is unbiased).
Bob Hepburn, the Toronto Star
There is a new national movement for BIG in Canada, called the BIG Push Campaign, and led be Rob Rainer. Canada will also be the site of the 2013 Basic Income Earth Network conference: “15th International Congress of the Basic Income Earth Network: Re-democratizing the Economy,” Friday June 27th to Sunday June 29th, 2014. McGill Faculty of Law, Montreal, Quebec. Thursday June 26th, 2014, NABIG Preconference Workshop Day. https://biencanada.ca/congress/
The survey report is online:
Environics, “Responsible Citizenship A National Survey of Canadians,” EvironicsInstitute.org, October 31, 2013. www.environicsinstitute.org/uploads/news/tf%202013%20survey%20backgrounder%20-%20responsible%20citizenship%20-%20oct%2031-2013%20eng.pdf
A report on the poll in the Toronto Star is also online:
Bob Hepburn, “New poll shows surprising support for anti-poverty plan,” the Toronto Star, December 12, 2013.
by Karl Widerquist | May 18, 2013 | Research
This op-ed piece calls for basic income as a new approach to poverty and an alternative to austerity. It is written by Senator Hugh Segal of the Conservative Party (Canada).
Segal, Hugh, “Why Guaranteeing the Poor an Income Will Save Us All In the End,” The Blog, Business Canada, The Huffington Post, April 8, 2013
It’s online at: https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/hugh-segal/guaranteed-annual-income_b_3037347.html
by Yannick Vanderborght | Nov 20, 2012 | News
BIEN Canada reports that a discussion of Guaranteed Annual (Basic) Income in the Canadian context was held on TV Ontario on November 15th, 2012. It featured Senator Hugh Segal, a long time proponent of Guaranteed Income, as well as Andrew Coyne (columnist with Post Media), Glen Hodgson (chief economist with the Conference Board of Canada), and Armine Yalnizyan (senior economist at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives).
The full discussion, as a well as a short clip of Senator Segal making the case for guaranteed income, can be found at:
Politics Around Poverty (49 minutes)
https://ww3.tvo.org/video/184975/politics-around-poverty
What Do You Think of “Guaranteed Annual Income”? (2 minutes)
https://theagenda.tvo.org/blog/agenda-blogs/what-do-you-think-guaranteed-annual-income
