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An Act to establish a national strategy for a guaranteed basic income introduced in the House

Private Member’s Bill C-273, a National Strategy for a Guaranteed Basic Income Act, was introduced in the House of Commons on Monday, February 22, 2021 by Ontario Liberal MP Julie Dzerowicz (Davenport), seconded by PEI Liberal MP Wayne Easter (Malpeque). This Act requires the Minister of Finance to develop a national strategy to assess implementation models for a guaranteed basic income program as part of Canada’s innovation and economic growth strategy. It also provides for reporting requirements in relation to the strategy. It will now move on to second reading in House for further discussion.

UBI Works has initiated a petition to demonstrate public support for Bill C-273. Please sign and distribute widely through your networks!

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Our submission to the 2021 Federal Budget Consultation

Thank you for the opportunity to bring forward our four recommendations for the 2021 budget. Coalition Canada’s recommendations are based on the research and on discussions with numerous groups and people from all walks of life across Canada.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Coalition Canada urges the federal government to:

1. Introduce a national basic income guarantee.

It should be paid monthly to residents of Canada aged 18 to 64. Other federal income transfers, such as the Guaranteed Income Supplement for seniors, should be adjusted to ensure fairness.

2. Design a national basic income guarantee program that delivers the greatest support to working-age adults with lowest incomes, regardless of work status.

Those with no income should receive the full benefit. As earned income increases beyond the established benefit level, the benefit should be gradually reduced by a proportion of earned income. 

3. Engage with each province and territory to harmonize the social transfer they receive as the federal government assumes responsibility for income transfers to working-age adults.

Start with the Government of Prince Edward Island, which has already requested discussions with the federal government to provide a basic income guarantee for the people of PEI. 

4.  Include Indigenous people and governments in a national basic income guarantee.

Consultation must respect the sovereignty of Indigenous governments.

Continue reading “Our submission to the 2021 Federal Budget Consultation”
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Artists For Basic Income

The Writer’s Union of Canada endorsement

TWUC endorsement
TWUC endorsement

TWUC calls on the government to implement a Basic Income Guarantee as an economic foundation for Canada’s workers. A basic income should complement and not replace or in any way diminish existing arts support programs.

Read this on TWUC’s webpage
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Artists For Basic Income News

Toronto Arts Council endorsement

TAC's UBI endorsement
TAC's UBI endorsement

Toronto Arts Council supports a federal Basic Income Guarantee

See the opinion piece published in The Globe and Mail, on March 20, 2021, and in La Presse on March 25. PDF of the article here. 

Read this on TAC’s webpage
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Comment

A response to BC’s report from its expert panel on basic income

As an advocate for basic income, I am disappointed that the BC Government’s expert panel on basic income did not recommend a livable basic income guarantee (BIG) that would provide income security for all people living in poverty in BC, regardless of their work status. The report unfortunately sets up a basic income as an “either/or” proposition, instead of a “yes/and” one. The panel rejects a BIG and makes 65 recommendations on how to fix existing supports and services.

Continue reading “A response to BC’s report from its expert panel on basic income”
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Media coverage

Disappointing report from BC’s expert panel on basic income

The 500-page report was 2 years in the making. The result: The panel of three economists rejected a basic income guarantee in favour of fixing the existing hotchpotch of BC income supports and services. It make 65 recommendations on how to do this. Bottom line: It leaves many low-income adults of working age, including single parents (mostly women) and others trying to survive on welfare living in deep poverty.

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British Columbia News

How a Basic Income Could Save Lives in a Pandemic

Victoria – The Tyee (Jan 07, 2021): Emergency benefits showed the value of ensuring all Canadians are guaranteed enough money to meet basic needs. A basic income program could have saved lives and reduced COVID-19 transmission when the pandemic struck last spring, says Evelyn Forget, economist and professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba. And basic income, as both a health and a poverty reduction policy, could still help people weather the second wave and those to come, says Forget.

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News

Canadian academics call for a Basic income Guarantee

December 17, 2020: The Royal Society of Canada released Renewing the Social Contract: Economic Recovery in Canada from Covid-19. Authored by 11 leading Canadian academics in the fields of economics, law, environment and health, the report provides 16 recommendations in 4 key areas: (1) Renewing the social contract; (2) Reinvigorating the Canadian economy for Innovation and resilience; (3) Enabling innovation; and (4) Improving  crisis policy response. Their #1 recommendation to renew the social contract is to establish a basic income guarantee. They also recommend ensuring paid sick leave, universal childcare that provides Early Childhood Education. To pay for these they recommend comprehensive tax reform that calls for taxing all income earned from capital gains the same way we tax earnings and also re-instituting an inheritance tax in order to address inequality.

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Canada’s economic recovery depends on a renewed social contract

The Royal Society of Canada published a new report by leading Canadian economists that make 16 recommendation in four areas to support economic recovery in Canada from COVID-19: renewing the social contract; reinvigorating the economy; enabling innovation; and improving crisis policy responses. The first recommendation from this report is that Canada establish a basic income guarantee (BIG). Read the full report here.

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Canada’s poor continue to be told “not yet”

The Senate – 9 Dec, 2020: Using a rare procedural step to oppose the second reading of Bill C-17, an Act granting money for federal public administration to the end of March 2021, Senator Kim Pate made a stunning speech in the Senate Chamber. Despite promises from the federal government, 3.5 million Canadians living below the poverty line continue to be excluded from income support programs like CERB and enhancements to EI, because the government says “not yet” to those living in deepest poverty. Read or watch this brilliant and impactful speech here.