Macleans

Every democracy’s internal legitimacy is tied to how fair the residents of that country feel their society is or tries to be. The fairness of laws, the fairness of government generally, the mix of fairness and opportunity writ large across the entire economy, fairness in the workplace and fairness of the tax system—these all matter.

That’s why successful economically prosperous economies have a special duty to keep working at fairness and reducing the pathologies that poverty imposes in ways that deny opportunity, expands the bureaucratic state and widens the gaps between haves and have nots. And we’re seeing just how important this duty is: Recent electoral outcomes in the U.S. and Europe underline that, while perceived economic fairness is not an exclusive determinant of political temperament, it certainly does count. When unfairness is broadly perceived to be pervasive, extreme and simplistic solutions and political voices championing them usually gain strength.

The Agenda

Ontario's basic income pilot will eventually assist 4,000 low income residents in Hamilton, Brantford and Brant County, Thunder Bay and Lindsay, providing individuals with $16,989 annually from the province. The Agenda welcomes Hugh Segal, special advisor to the income pilot program, to discuss how to track its success and whether it will improve the lives of Ontarians.

Roderick Benns

Opinion

At least three federal Conservatives, all of whom served in former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney’s governments, are open to trying basic income guarantee pilots – and there could be more.

The dominant Progressive Conservative voice is Hugh Segal, a key driver of a basic income policy for decades and the key advisor on Ontario’s pilot project. He served as chief of staff to Mulroney and was a Canadian senator from 2005-2014. Segal was also chief of staff for former Ontario Premier, Bill Davis.

Another retired Progressive Conservative Senator, Michael Meighen, campaigned for a guaranteed annual income in his unsuccessful bids for a seat under Robert Stanfield. He told the Precarious Work Chronicle in 2015 that basic income is “very attractive on paper.”

by Hollie Pratt-Campbell 

You could say Kingston is something of a leader in Canada when it comes to advocating for a basic income guarantee (BIG).

In December 2015, Kingston City Council became the first municipality in Canada to endorse the idea, and did so unanimously. One of Canada’s foremost advocates for BIG is former senator Hugh Segal, also from Kingston, and the city has an active and influential advocacy group, called Kingston Action Group for a Basic Income Guarantee (KAG4BIG).

“I think it’s safe to say that our Kingston group is the most active and organized of the local basic income groups in Ontario,” says Jamie Swift, a journalist and member of KAG4BIG.

The time is ripe to start moving away from current welfare models and towards a basic income for Canadians, says former Conservative Senator Hugh Segal. 

Former P.E.I. premier Robert Ghiz said in 2014 he supported trying a basic income on P.E.I., and the current government has told CBC News it still supports the idea.

Segal has written a plan for a basic income pilot project for Ontario, which he expects will go ahead next year. The plan proposes that those aged 18 to 65, who are living under the low-income poverty line in Ontario, earn a basic income of at least $1,320 a month. People with disabilities would receive $500 more.

By Roderick Benns

As Ontario gets set to introduce a Basic Income pilot in April of next year, Ayesha Valliani has been a part of a multi-faith approach call to action in support of the policy.

Last month in Toronto, Valliani served on the organizing committee for a Basic Income symposium, which was hosted in collaboration with the Christian-Jewish Dialogue, with very strong interfaith support from across the city.

Organizational partners of the event were the Christian Jewish Dialogue of Toronto, University of St. Michael’s College, and Massey College, with funding from essentially every faith community, says Valliani.

By Roderick Benns

With Canada’s 150^th birthday year less than two months away, Hugh Segal is calling for the federal government to get involved in Ontario’s pilot project on Basic Income as a nation-building opportunity.

Retired Conservative Senator Hugh Segal’s long awaited report on a guaranteed annual income was released last week, which will see Canada’s largest province set up a multi-year pilot to measure its effectiveness.

In the report to Premier Kathleen Wynne’s government, Segal recommends a monthly payment of at least $1,320 for a single person which is about 75 percent of the province’s poverty line. For those with disabilities, Segal suggests a top-up of at least $500 a month.

CBC News -- 'As it Happens'

The best government solution to poverty might be the simplest one: give money to poor people, no strings attached.

That's the idea behind a basic income pilot program for Ontario. This week, former Conservative Senator Hugh Segal released a discussion paper on how the pilot program should work.

Segal is proposing that people between the ages of 18 to 65, who are living under the low-income poverty line in Ontario, will earn a basic income of at least $1320 per month. Individuals with disabilities will receive $500 more.

By Roderick Benns

Retired Conservative Senator Hugh Segal’s long awaited report on Ontario’s Basic Income pilot has been released, where he emphasizes the need to understand the full costs of poverty before fairly evaluating the new pilot.

Segal recommends a monthly payment of at least $1,320 for a single person which is about 75 percent of the province’s poverty line. For those with disabilities, Segal suggests a top-up of at least $500 a month.

The retired senator says any pilot project must understand poverty’s costs, not only in the present welfare and disability payments, “but also in terms of added pressures on our health system, and the Ontario economy as a whole, through its impacts on economic productivity and existing government revenues.”

Toronto Star

It has been hailed as the magic bullet to end poverty and denounced as a Trojan Horse to dismantle the social safety net.

But there has been little serious research to prove either position. Until now.

Ontario is poised to become ground zero for what may be the largest pilot project yet to test the notion of a basic income in North America.

In a discussion paper released Thursday, Ontario’s special adviser on basic income suggests topping up incomes of the working poor and replacing the province’s meagre and rule-bound social assistance program with a monthly payment of at least $1,320 for a single person, or about 75 per cent of the poverty line.