Coalition Canada

Basic income, just transition depend on each other, Regehr says

The Energy Mix (September 23, 2020)

The very basic idea is that everyone is part of society and the economy. Everyone should be able to participate and benefit from it. In our modern world that takes money. It’s a matter of human rights and dignity, and it’s a common good, the idea of sharing resources.

But our systems of income security and social protection don’t do that nearly well enough. That’s why we see what COVID has just magnified enormously for us, that we’ve got these problems of poverty, inequality, insecurity, anxiety, systemic discrimination that we’ve been fighting for a long time but obviously haven’t made very many dents.

Senators call for basic income to redress racism and inequality

OTTAWA, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2020—Senators Lankin, McCallum and Pate hosted a meeting with Indigenous women leaders and MP Leah Gazan to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on Indigenous women in Manitoba and the place of guaranteed livable basic income in redressing systemic racism and inequality.

National Observer, (September 15, 2020)

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has been pressured to make universal basic income policy a top priority as the throne speech, where he is expected to lay out a federal agenda, quickly approaches. Financial programs put in place during the pandemic prove that the government is capable of making it happen.

The Toronto Star (September 15, 2020)

A coalition of nearly 4,000 individuals and organizations is calling on the federal government to implement a guaranteed basic income to address the systemic gender inequities exposed and intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chronicle Herald (August 20, 2020)

Proponents say a universal basic income helps lift people out of poverty.

Read five letters to the editor responding to a critic of universal basic income, and why he’s wrong in stating it makes recipients even more reliant on the state.

MP submits motion to make CERB a permanent basic income

By Amber McGuckin
Global News (August 16, 2020)

A Winnipeg MP is looking to convert the Canada Emergency Response Benefit into a permanent fixture.

Winnipeg Centre MP Leah Gazan tabled a motion in the House of Commons to convert CERB into a permanent guaranteed liveable basic income.

“COVID-19 has demonstrated that we do have the resources. We must ensure all individuals in Canada can thrive in dignity and that means making investments to ensure basic human rights for all,” she said.

COVID-19 exposes cracks in disability aid

By Adina Bresge
Victoria Times Colonist (July 17, 2020)

Karyn Keith says she isn’t asking for much. All she wants is the same support she’d receive if she was out of a job because of the pandemic, rather than unable to work because of her disabilities.

The 44-year-old mother in Brampton, Ont., said she lives with constant pain and fatigue from multiple chronic conditions, including trigeminal neuralgia, a debilitating nerve disorder characterized by searing spasms through the face.