“Canadian artists, writers, performers call for national basic income”
CBC, The Canadian Press, Entertainment, Jul 17, 2020.
‘Here’s who lost jobs in the pandemic, and who needs support’
By Iglika Ivanova
The Tyee (July 17, 2020)
The COVID-19 crisis has caused unprecedented job losses across Canada, and B.C. has not been spared. Between February and May almost 590,000 B.C. workers lost their jobs or more than half their hours — 23 per cent of all workers employed in February. Despite a slight recovery of jobs in May and June, the scale of job losses and disruptions far exceed those seen in typical recessions.
While all sectors of the economy have been affected, the labor market hit has worsened existing inequalities. Lower paid workers in part-time, temporary and more precarious jobs where much more likely to lose their jobs or the majority of their hours than those in higher paid, more secure jobs.
Iglika Ivanova is a senior economist and the public interest researcher at the B.C. office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
Article “Artists and Advocates Push for Universal Basic Income in Canada” in Canadian Art magazine.
It’s time for a basic income
Today, artists, writers, technicians and performers are calling on Prime Minister Trudeau to create a permanent basic income guarantee.
“A Public Letter from the Arts Community
for a Basic Income Guarantee”
For the song taken from Massive Attack‘s Eutopia EP, this video features Professor Guy Standing in a striking advocacy for universal basic income, produced by Robert Del Naja and Euan Dickinson on the 22nd April 2020.
Formed in July 2019, this all-party committee of the PEI Legislative Assembly was asked to “report back to the Legislative Assembly within twelve months with fully costed recommendations regarding the creation of a Basic Income Guarantee pilot for Prince Edward Island.”
Read the Committee’s Interim Report submitted July 8, 2020, which recommended that the provincial government adopt a market-basket measure as its official measure of poverty when making changes to legislation, regulations and policy.
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Clayton Windatt’s video
Hi All,
I have been working with a lot of artists and arts professionals from across the country all trying to formalize a pathway forward for a Basic Income Guarantee in Canada. I feel strongly that this program can benefit artists very much, as a result I have committed time and effort in supporting this initiative.
Published initially on Clayton Windatt’s blog:
By Chloe Halpenny
Ottawa Citizen (July 3, 2020).
The logic behind supporting a basic income is straightforward. It could provide a much-needed foothold in housing and rental markets that feel increasingly inaccessible.
With collective Canadian student debt a whopping $28 billion as of 2018, it would make it easier to enter and remain in post-secondary education. And given that young people are disproportionately concentrated in precarious work, a basic income responds to the reality that having a job doesn’t necessarily mean being able to put food on the table.
Chloe Halpenny is the vice-chair of the Basic Income Canada Youth Network.
By Senator Kim Pate
PEI’s The Guardian (May 26, 2020).
Cradled in the reverberating waves of COVID-19, P.E.I.’s special committee on poverty is a beacon of hope to Canadians. At the conclusion of its work, P.E.I. could be poised to lead the way by being the first province or territory to forge a plan to implement a basic income guarantee (BIG) for all whose income falls below an established level.
COVID-19 has spurred a renewed interest in BIG. Now more than ever, most Canadians understand the need for support sufficient for an individual to live in dignity. Despite feeling relatively secure prior to the pandemic, too many are now painfully aware of how precarious seemingly secure jobs and businesses can be and how easy it is to fall through the cracks of current income supports.
Senator Kim Pate is one of the co-authors of a recent letter from 50 senators calling for guaranteed livable income/basic income.
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