University of Manitoba News

A UM economist says that government assistance for people whose livelihood has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic shows that it may be time for universal basic income.

Dr. Evelyn Forget, who has long studied basic income as a means of reducing poverty, says that the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), introduced by the Canadian government last month, proves that existing income security programs such as Employment Insurance (EI) are inadequate.

Dr. Forget is in community health sciences at UM and academic director of the Manitoba Research Data Centre. She is an adjunct scientist with the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy and a research associate with Ongomiizwin – Research in the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences.

Winnipeg Sun

The Green Party of Manitoba laid out specifics on Sunday of one of the party’s main platforms: the proposal for Basic Income and more progressive tax system.

“Dealing with poverty and inequality is not only the right thing to do morally, it is also the smart thing to do economically for taxpayers,” said Green Party of Manitoba leader James Beddome in a press release, outlining the details of the Greens tax reform proposal which includes a fee on pollution and a basic income for Manitobans.

By Lorna Turnbull for The Winnipeg Free Press

‘We are a ‘have’ province," Brian Pallister proclaimed in his victory speech April 19, "(and) we will build a better future for all Manitobans."

On Monday, the premier set the tone for the future of Manitoba with his throne speech mapping out the new government’s agenda.

A few weeks from now, the Conservatives’ first budget will let us see if they will put our money where their mouth is.