Canadian province to give every citizen $1,320 income boost to overcome poverty

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/canadian-province-to-give-every-citizen-1320-income-boost-to-overcome-poverty-a7411281.html

One in five children live in poverty in Canada, according to Unicef, and a recent poll found two-thirds of Canadians open to the idea of basic income

A Canadian province is to run a pilot project aimed at providing every citizen a minimum basic income of $1,320 (£773) a month.

The provincial government of Ontario confirmed it is holding public consultations on the $25m (£15m) project over the next two months, which could replace social assistance payments administered by the province for people aged 18 to 65.

People with disabilities will receive $500 (£292) more under the scheme, and individuals who earn less than $22,000 (£13,000) a year after tax will have their incomes topped up to reach that threshold.

The pilot report was submitted by Conservative ex-senator Hugh Segal, who suggested the project should be tested on three distinct sites: in the north, south and among the indigenous community of Ontario.

Areas with high levels of poverty and food insecurity should be chosen for the test project, Mr Segal recommended.

“It is in fact the precinct of rational people when looking to encourage work and community engagement and give people a floor beneath which they’re not allowed to fall,” he said.

“We can do this for seniors without having to add any more bureaucrats or civil servants, we respect their freedom to choose, we give them the money, they decide what’s important. Why would we treat other poor people differently?

“What Ontario is doing is saying let’s have a pilot project, let’s calculate the costs, let’s calculate the positive and the nudge effects behaviourally.”

Mr Segal confirmed that participation in the project, which is due to launch in spring 2017, will be voluntary and promised “no one would be financially worse off as a result of the pilot”.

One in five children live in poverty in Canada, according to Unicef, and a recent poll of some 1,500 Canadians found two-thirds of those polled were open to the idea of basic income.

A similar project was tested in Dauphin, Manitoba, between 1974 and 1979, with families below the poverty line receiving over $3,000 (£1,757) a month. Over 1,000 citizens were said to have benefited from the scheme.

 

Another reason to get the heck out of the U.S.

 

Can you imagine the US doing this? I bet it would pay for itself by eliminating the various social safety net agencies.

You wouldn't need food stamps, Section 8, WIC, etc ...

But, nope. Dumb ass, conservatives will oppose it on some backwards, short sited, Neanderthal principal regardless of how effective, moral and humane the program might be.

 

A few months ago, I posted about Sweden doing this... It was introduced as a measure, designed to make those who were poor and jobless feel worthy. Not sure if the referendum passed.

 

Exactly
I spoke about that on here and all I heard was who's gonna pay for it.
People seem to be void of basic civics knowledge

 

Looking to see if Sweden did pass it, seems Finland and Switzerland did a similar thing .

But it failed to pass..

Switzerland rejects plan to pay every citizen at least $2,500 a month

By Ivana Kottasova and Jackie Wattles June 05, 2016 16:28PM EDT
A proposal to dramatically change social welfare policy has been soundly rejected in Switzerland.
The vast majority of Swiss voters on Sunday rejected a referendum that would have provided every citizen a guaranteed income of $2,500 Swiss francs ($2,520) after tax, regardless of their employment status or wealth.
All told, about 77% of Swiss voters were against the measure, which lost by at least 10 percentage points in all of the country's 26 districts.

****
Now l see that it wasn't Sweden but Switzerland l had posted about months ago. I often mix the two up.

 

That would never happen here. Our government is corrupt and all about self. It's better in their pocket, not ours.

 

If it came to us... We're "lazy and looking for a handout" and any pol supporting such must be a socialist.

 

Pretty much

 

Also,there is so much corporate welfare. All the guilt trips the conservatives give can't pay for basic things. The GOP Congress is very greedy for the rich.

 

won't see this in the united states....