Category: Prince Edward Island

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Comment Prince Edward Island

Points of View on a Basic Income Guarantee for PEI

Published by the PEI Working Group for a Livable Income, August 2026

This second collection of six articles were written by members of the PEI Working Group for a Livable Income in June and July of 2026.

  • June 9, 2026. Guaranteeing a Basic Income is Good Health Policy by Sophie Burns. Income security is collective insurance against the inevitability of being human.
  • June 16, 2026. An Equitable Society is a Secure Society by Susan Hartley. We can create a fairer, more secure, and more peaceful country and reduce the threats that emanate from a society that does not care for all members.
  • June 30, 2026. Canada is Dropping the Ball on Poverty by Barb Boraks and Rita Jackson. A basic income would ensure that small and medium-sized farms and farmers would not fall into the cracks created by a market- and industry-driven bias.
  • June 23, 2026. Hope for an Equitable Future by Noah Moss. Even while struggling to stay afloat, youth advocate for a more equitable world by valuing the lives of people over profit.
  • July 7, 2026. Choosing Care: Implementing Basic Income Guarantee by Michelle Jay. Generational Squeeze: Late midlife Canadians are feeling the period of care for their children extending into their adulthood
  • July 14, 2026. A Generational Investment by Jane Ledwell. We owe current and future generations a society where everyone can live with dignity, participate in our community, and contribute their talents. The costs of poverty are paid many times over through poor health, low productivity, and lost potential.
  • Read more…
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Media coverage Prince Edward Island

Five op-eds supporting PEI’s Guaranteed Basic Income Proposal

The PEI Working Group for a Livable Income asked five of their members to each write an op ed, which were all published as a series in the Saltwire. The group published these 5 op-eds as a booklet, which can be found here on Coalition Canada’s website.

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Media coverage Prince Edward Island

Not another pilot project please!

Charlottetown – The Guardian (10 Dec, 2020): PEI’s Report from the all-party Special Committee on Poverty recommended implementing a Basic Income Guarantee (BIG) in PEI as a test case for all of Canada – but it also included a backup plan if the federal government declines to partner with PEI to deliver a province-wide program. Plan B is another pilot reaching one-tenth of the people who need a basic income in PEI. BIG advocates say no to Plan B.

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News Prince Edward Island

PEI government Special Legislative Committee on Poverty

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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Media coverage Prince Edward Island

PEI special committee on poverty a ‘beacon of hope’

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.

Read more…

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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News Prince Edward Island

Voluntary Resource Council and Cooper Institute

2019-2020

Supported by a federal New Horizons for Seniors project, a group of seniors participated in a series of workshops designed to explore and develop an understanding of BIG. At the end of the project, they organized a very well-attended community event in Charlottetown.