Clearing the air and praising basic income
For some, the first time they are able to buy a new winter coat
During annual performance reviews at my full time employment gig, we are assessed on our ability to produce “error free work.” Those of you out there who do, please cast the first stone. Thank goodness that section also references our ability to recognize and respond to our errors and consequently to learn from them. I’m extra good at that last bit.
Same goes for producing error free work in this space. This is my 183rd column in seven years and the number of printed errors has been extremely low until I made one in each of my last two columns.
The first one was pointed out by a retired high school teacher who was kind enough to cast aspersions toward the lack of spellcheck far beyond my fingertips and keyboard.
Sadly, she was not error free in that assumption. T’was I who thought I had “shuttered” at a scary thought instead of correctly shuddering when I wrote about bumper stickers and one that warned, “Jesus is Coming — Look Busy!”
Then in my last piece here, I was lauding the move to a fairer minimum wage of $14 and soon to be $15 an hour, recently implemented by the Ontario government. As John Cartright, president of the Toronto and York Labour Council, aptly posed this week, “Why should a multibillion-dollar company like Restaurant Brands International (and so many others) rely and prosper on a business model based on poverty wages?”
In researching for that column I was too quick in pulling the number of workers in Ontario who will be positively impacted by higher wages once they’re fairly implemented by all business owners. Far from the mere 30,000 I incorrectly identified, Pam Frache, co-ordinator of the provincial Fight for $15 and Fairness Campaign dropped me a line suggesting the paper had made a mistake. Once again I owned up and, with mixed feelings, report the actual figure is almost 1.7 million people in Ontario who currently earn less than $15 an hour and are being raised up.
Far from a mistake, so far the three-year Ontario Basic Income (BI) Pilot is sounding like another good move on the provincial front. Initially I was extremely cautious about Hamilton being a site for this research project and I gained a reputation as a naysayer.
Once our fair city was chosen as a site, I helped organize community information sessions to gain more knowledge from experts in the field. I remained cautious because there are many factors to check and balance to ensure the government is able to stick to its commitment of “doing no harm” to anyone involved in this income security research.
On the other side of my caution however, there is some excitement for the future as the individual stories come in about the impact of the extra income. Some of the 1,000 participants slated for Hamilton/Brant started receiving their increased income ($17,000 a year for singles and $24,000 for couples with $500 a month extra for people with disabilities) as far back as October.
At a recent H.O.P.E. meeting (Hamilton Organizing for Poverty Elimination), there were at least two people around the table who had stopped receiving their $1,100 ODSP (Ontario Disability Support Program) cheques and were now receiving a monthly cheque for the next three years of $1,915 through the BI. Their stories were hopefilled.
One woman was headed out to purchase a winter coat for the first time in her entire life. She is almost 30 years old. She was seeking advice on good places to shop since she had only received coats in the past through local charities or hand-me-downs already purchased.
Another participant was heading to Timmins to spend Christmas with his family for the first time in a decade. He reported feeling more sociable and positive in his outlook on life. He also said he had experienced some anxiety since this influx of cash. The woman reported concerns about being able to budget and grocery shop properly.
These examples show the good outcomes this money can bring and it also shows the need for government supports to accompany this new income. Otherwise, there may be errors made that aren’t as easily fixed as some of mine.
Deirdre Pike is a biweekly freelance columnist for The Hamilton Spectator. She strives to produce error free work. You can reach her to suggest corrections at dpikeatthespec@gmail.com or @deirdrepike on Twitter.
Far from a mistake, so far the three-year Ontario Basic Income (BI) Pilot is sounding like another good move on the provincial front.