Believing it would make a difference in the health and well-being of Canada’s population, Chatham-Kent councilors voted in favor of a motion calling for a federal basic guaranteed income.
Believing it would make a difference in the health and well-being of Canada’s population, Chatham-Kent councilors voted in favor of a motion calling for a federal basic guaranteed income.
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Wallaceburg Coun. Carmen McGregor entered Monday’s motion to support the advocacy of the Chatham-Kent Food Policy Council and Senate Bill S-233.
“(The income) would be instrumental in addressing social determinants of health and would have a far greater impact on well-being than the ever-growing cost of health care and municipal supports,” she said.
The motion asked the mayor to create a resolution and to send it to the federal government. It will also be forwarded to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.
A basic income guarantee would be geared to people older than 17 in Canada regardless of employment status.
McGregor said the senate currently is considering the bill, which if successful, would establish a framework for such a program. The bill passed second reading in April 2023.
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“I believe that we can afford guaranteed basic income,” she said. “What we can’t afford (are) the health costs and continually abandoning people to poverty and homelessness.”
Chatham-Kent’s board of health also discussed the issue in October, in advance of the council meeting.
McGregor’s motion stated such a program can complement existing social supports in Canada, including the Canada child benefit and the guaranteed income supplement for seniors.
The Ontario basic income pilot project, implemented in Hamilton, Thunder Bay and Lindsay between 2017 and 2019, had 4,000 eligible applicants receive a basic income and “reported positive outcomes, including the improvement of food and housing insecurity, physical and mental health, financial stability , social relationships, and increased access to employment opportunities,” her motion said.
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Chatham Coun. Amy Finn offered her support, saying many people can no longer afford rising rent, despite working, given the prevalence of part-time employment.
“They couldn’t afford to go to college or university, because they had a young family,” she said. “It was a decision to work (and) do what they could to survive.
“It’s tough. And it’s not by choice on a lot of these people.”
North Kent Coun. Rhonda Jubenville said she understood the intention of the motion, but couldn’t vote in favor, given Canada’s debt, as well as the potential impact on the workforce.
“Instead of this, where are the incentives to get people out working, instead of free handouts of money?” she said. “We have to ask ourselves, ‘Is financial security… a birthright? Or is it something that we should be earning?’
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“Basic income would lead to a shrinking labor force, which would harm our economy and the growth in our country.”
McGregor said citizens already are footing the bill for social programs and believes guaranteed income would help raise people up to a basic standard.
“So, they can afford to buy food. So, they can afford to buy clothing,” she said. “It would also give you the dignity of being able to do that.”
Mayor Darrin Canniff stressed the motion simply was seeking support for the concept, not specifying what a federal basic income program should look like.
“There’s a thousand different details to work out,” he said.
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