We need basic income in Canada

Basic income, also known as a guaranteed annual income.

Canadians face immense challenges. Many families struggle to pay the rent; they can’t afford their children’s school supplies or school trips. Many rely on donations at the food bank just to feed their families.

In numbers, one in seven Canadians live in poverty. That’s over five million people — including over one million children. And there are an estimated 150,000 - 300,000 people homeless. Last year close to 900, 000 Canadians used food banks every month, with over one third of those children.

We also have increasing income and wealth inequality that is changing the core of our society. The Conference Board of Canada gave Canada a “C” grade for inequality, ranking us 12th out of 17 countries studied.

But why a basic income?

What we have done for far too long is simply not working. Even with all the social supports in place, the resulting income is often only enough to maintain a family in poverty. At their worst, existing policies and programs actually entrap people in poverty.

This is why we need a new way.

http://www5.statcan.gc.ca/cansim/a33?RT=TABLE&themeID=3874&spMode=tables&lang=eng

http://homelesshub.ca/about-homelessness/homelessness-101/how-many-people-are-homeless-canada

https://www.foodbankscanada.ca/Hunger-in-Canada/HungerCount-2015.aspx

CANADA: Poll shows support for Basic Income Guarantee leads opposition by 4 percentage points

This idea is supported by a majority of Canadians, a 2013 Environics poll found. Interestingly, this support does not fall along party lines or political philosophy. People across the political spectrum support a basic income.

In the 1970s, Canada piloted a basic income program known as ‘Mincome,’ in Manitoba, primarily in the town of Dauphin. Research done by Evelyn Forget from the University of Manitoba found that as a result “hospital visits dropped 8.5 per cent. Fewer people went to the hospital with work-related injuries and there were fewer emergency room visits from car accidents and domestic abuse. There were also far fewer mental health visits. 

Poverty is costing us all -- as much as $30 billion a year by one estimate -- by slowing the economy, forcing up our tax bills, increasing health care costs and crime.

On the other hand, the now closed National Council of Welfare put the poverty gap in Canada at $12 billion in 2011. That is what they said it would take to get everyone up to the poverty line.

If these numbers are correct, it’s obvious which one makes more economic sense.

 http://www.oafb.ca/assets/pdfs/CostofPoverty.pdf