by Andre Coelho | Jun 29, 2016 | News
(Picture: credit to CBC News)
It seems that food prices are quite high in Canada’s remote northern locations. This is made clear in a recent article, posted at CBC News, highlighting an important Food Bank Conference which took place in Thunder Bay (Canada), from the 12th through 14th of June. These high prices, of course, affect the ability of food banks to access “high-quality, high protein food”, which translates into higher costs and, ultimately, less availability of these foods.
Chris Hatch, who leads Mississauga Food Bank and also the Ontario Association of Food Banks, showed his concerns over the fact that many other Food Bank delegates were not aware of these higher prices, but also emphasized that this conference gave them the opportunity to discuss some of Ontario’s Liberal government initiatives. Among these initiatives is basic income, a policy that was particularly highlighted and discussed at this venue, mainly due to its potential benefits such as getting people out of poverty. With less poverty, better nutrition standards are likely to follow, as already observed in basic income trials in India and Namibia, for instance.
It is also noteworthy that Rob Reiner, long time basic income advocate and ex-officio advisor to Basic Income Canada Network Board of Directors, was a keynote speaker at this conference, as presented in its Program.
More information at:
“Ontario Food Bank conference wraps up in Thunder Bay“, CBC News, June 15th 2016
Ontario Association of Food Banks, 2016 OAFB Conference
by Kate McFarland | Jun 28, 2016 | News
On Saturday, June 25, the left-centrist Nova Scotia New Democratic Party (NDP) passed a resolution to “implement a guaranteed basic income for all Nova Scotians” at the party’s annual convention, according to an article in CBC News. The convention was attended by about 200 party delegates.
While no further details of the proposed provincial guaranteed basic income have been released, CBC News cites caucus chair Lenore Zann as explaining that “the idea of a basic minimum income is one she saw first hand while living in Sweden.” (Granted, this leaves unclear exactly what Zann has in mind; views on basic income in Sweden have been mixed, with the idea taken seriously by the Green Party but not in the mainstream.)
“‘This kind of idea, some people may still be in the old ages and think something like this is a radical, left-wing idea, but in fact, I would say they’re behind the times,’ she said.”
The Nova Scotia NDP is aligned with the federal NDP — the third largest party in the Canadian Parliament, holding 44 seats in the House of Commons. It also the third largest party in Nova Scotia’s provincial legislature
This is not the first time that a provincial New Democratic Party announced support for basic income. In November 2013, the Prince Edward Island NDP endorse a call for a guaranteed income pilot project, as did the Saskatchewan NDP in December 2015.
Other new resolutions passed at Saturday’s convention include free tuition for community college students and the reinstatement of Nova Scotia’s tax credits for the film industry.
News Reference:
Lisa Blackburn, “Nova Scotia New Democratic Party holds annual convention,” CBC News, June 26, 2016.
Image: Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia; CC0 Public Domain
Thanks to my supporters on Patreon. (To see how you too can support my work for Basic Income News, click the link.)
by Andre Coelho | Jun 26, 2016 | News
Hugh Segal (credit to: Basic Income Canada Network)
Ontario’s political leadership aims at economic growth and job creation. That is particularly clear in the most recent News Release, announcing that the provincial government has appointed Special Advisor Hugh Segal to “help inform the design and implementation of the pilot”. Mr. Segal’s involvement will be of a technical nature, such as giving advice on potential criteria for selecting subjects, locations and evaluation of results.
Conservative former Senator Hugh Segal has long been a basic income supporter, having extensively written about and been cited on the subject (a couple of examples listed below).
Ontario is also investing in education, as a part of a four-part major economic plan for the region. Other priorities are related to housing, in an effort to “help grow Canada’s economy in a clean and sustainable way”. Ontario’s leaders reinforce the need to help “more people get and create the jobs of the future”, although the relation between that objective and the basic income implementation potential effects is not clear yet.
More information at:
Ministry of Housing, “Social infrastructure spending strengthens communities and grows the economy in Ontario”, Ontario Newsroom, 21st June 2016
Ministry of Community and Social Services, “Ontario moving forward with basic income pilot”, Ontario Newsroom, 24th June 2016
Hugh Segal, “Scrapping Welfare”, Literary Review of Canada, December 2012
“Learn about basic income”, Basic Income Pilot Canada
by Kate McFarland | Jun 16, 2016 | News
The 2016 North American Basic Income Guarantee Congress was held at the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, from May 12-15.
Ric Lim videotaped most (although not all) of the panel discussion and paper presentations for informational and documentation for the forthcoming documentary Mincome: Manitoba’s Great Experiment. The videographer has also uploaded these videos to vimeo for our viewing pleasure.
You can find the list of speakers and sessions, with links to the videos, here: NABIG 2016 Videos.
Image: University of Manitoba campus; Teles via Wikimedia Commons
by Kate McFarland | Jun 1, 2016 | News
Last January, the Silicon Valley start-up incubator Y Combinator released a Request for Research on the effects of a basic income. Over 1000 people applied to lead Y Combinator’s proposed experiment.
In a blog post on Tuesday, May 31, company president Sam Altman revealed the identity of the chosen Research Director — Dr. Elizabeth Rhodes, who recently completed a PhD in Social Work and Political Science at the University of Michigan — and announced plans for a short-term pilot study in Oakland.
According to a report in CNN Money, the research team at Y Combinator has not yet determined who will participate in the pilot or how much money each will receive, but it places the amount between $1,000 and $2,000 per month.
About the Oakland pilot, Altman says, “Our goal will be to prepare for the longer-term study by working on our methods–how to pay people, how to collect data, how to randomly choose a sample, etc.”
He goes on:
In our pilot, the income will be unconditional; we’re going to give it to participants for the duration of the study, no matter what. People will be able to volunteer, work, not work, move to another country—anything. We hope basic income promotes freedom, and we want to see how people experience that freedom.
If the pilot goes well, we plan to follow up with the main study. If the pilot doesn’t go well, we’ll consider different approaches.
Altman’s announcement produced a flurry of interest almost immediately. Within hours, the news had been covered in CNN Money, Vice’s Motherboard, Fortune, Tech Insider, and Tech Crunch, among other media outlets. (See below for links.)
Y Combinator President Sam Altman
Photo Credit: TechCrunch via flickr
References
Sam Altman, “Moving Forward on Basic Income,” Y Combinator Posthaven.
Kate Conger, “Y Combinator announces basic income pilot experiment in Oakland,” Tech Crunch, May 31, 2016.
Jason Koebler, “100 People in Oakland Will Get Free Money as Part of a Basic Income Experiment,” Motherboard, May 31, 2016.
Kia Kokalitcheva, “Y Combinator Wants to Test a Revolutionary Economic Idea,” Fortune, May 31, 2016.
Sara Ashley O’Brien, “Why some Oakland residents won’t have to worry about rent,” CNN Money, May 31, 2016.
Chris Weller, “Silicon Valley’s biggest startup accelerator just announced the leader of its groundbreaking basic income experiment,” Tech Insider, May 31, 2016.
Photo of Oakland (Upper Rockridge neighborhood) CC rbotman1, Wikimedia Commons
Thanks to my supporters on Patreon. (To see how you too can support my work for Basic Income News, click the link.)
