[URBAN NOTE] "Regent Park Residents Weigh in on Ontario’s Basic Income Pilot Project"

[rfmcdonald]

Torontoist's Alex McKeen reported on a consultation process in Regent Park regarding a test project on guaranteed minimum income in that community.

Mike Connell has a strong opinion on how to cook the perfect steak. A cook for the Yonge Street Mission, he enjoys his job and is quick to say so.

He also has an opinion about basic income, which is what brought him to the Christian Resource Centre (CRC) Regent Park Community Food Centre on January 18, for the CRC-hosted Basic Income Pilot Consultation.

“If it doesn’t affect my ODSP [Ontario Disability Support Program],” Connell says, then “I’m all for it.”

The government of Ontario announced its intention to hold a Basic Income Pilot project in the 2016 budget. This was followed by a detailed report by former senator Hugh Segal on how the pilot should be executed in order to measure the idea’s potential for success within the province’s Poverty Reduction Strategy.

Although the exact meaning of the term ‘basic income’ can vary, the idea is that citizens in a basic income jurisdiction are guaranteed a minimum level of income with ‘no strings attached,’ in theory affording greater discretion to those who would otherwise rely on social assistance payments while having no adverse effects on higher earners.

Comments

[dewline]

The greatest worry I have about this is that it gets watered down. Weakened.