My experience on the basic income pilot

As a member of Ontario Basic Income Pilot project (OBIP), I receive a guaranteed income every month and, more importantly, my medication costs are covered by this program because I was previously on the Ontario Works program.

I have always been hesitant to share the fact that I am on social assistance, a welfare program, due to the shame associated with the stereotypical responses that a person on welfare is subject to. These stereotypes include the idea that we are lazy people who would rather take from the government than work, though I’m sure you will be able to think of a few common stereotypes yourself.

For the purposes of my letter to you here, I have chosen to exclude my emotions/feelings in regards to the decision to cancel the OBIP and focus strictly on comparative details that might outline some of the unseen or unheard benefits of this program. I will speak from my own experience and cannot speak for others, though I’m sure they will write their own letters and speak for themselves.

I share these details of my life with you not because I am trying to elicit sympathy or concern, but rather to outline the benefits that the OBIP has had in my life since I was enrolled, beginning in April 2018.

What follows is a brief snapshot of the months preceding my participation in the OBIP. December to March was a time that I had three part-time jobs, and one job where I was on-call. My hours were not set, I was not certain what my income would be in any given month, and I had physical and mental side effects such as the flu, a cold and increased anxiety.

In terms of how these precarious working conditions affected my life, I was not able to sleep normally, my eating habits were sporadic and more of an emergency response than a regular routine, and I had no physical energy by the end of a day to take care of house duties.

This is a pretty normal life for a lot of people who have recently graduated, are searching for employment, or are in between jobs, or are just starting out in life. I am not diminishing these struggles either because the complex nature of precarious employment has permeated multiple areas of my life that are noticeable not only to me, but to those around me.

During the time before being a part of OBIP, I was heavily reliant on familial support financially (and emotionally during particularly high-anxiety, lowmood times) and was falling behind on bills every month. At the worst point, I was making the decision every other day to either eat that day or pay an overdue bill (or pay a portion of it).

Every other day I had to sacrifice eating in order to take care of mandatory obligations that otherwise maintained the rest of my existence (like paying the utility bill, paying for cat food). Not only is this extremely physically unhealthy it was also degrading, brought me shame and lowered my quality of life. Snap to June of 2018.

For the first time in over a year I am caught up on my bills. I was able to lease a car so that I could work outside of my area of residence. I have an apartment that didn’t have mould everywhere. I started an online business selling handmade, artisanal and all-natural products and goods with a business partner. I am going to school in September to study concurrent disorders. I am writing in my free time to self-publish work that I completed while I was in university. For the first time, I am feeling productive in my own capabilities and potentialities.

These changes might seem inconsequential or trivial, or merely coincidental, but I do disagree for two reasons. The first is that the security of guaranteed income per month offers me the freedom to learn how I function best within society; because I have only two jobs now and am afforded the free time to work on personal projects, I have had the clarity to focus my intentions in the most productive way (like starting a business, self-publishing, and finding a course of study that contributes meaningfully within society).

Secondly, the changes I have noticed speak to the benefit of such a program in the short term, though the program is being cancelled before it can reach completion (three years), and therefore the long-term benefits cannot yet be known.

By sharing this brief story with you I hope to have highlighted how the OBIP has made a difference in the life of this constituent. I hesitate to provide my credentials, schooling and other qualifications that might better justify my position because I do not believe that these are the details that are most pertinent here.

However, I will share that I have two degrees from McMaster University — both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree — and am working toward furthering my education in order to become a fully certified counsellor. What is most pertinent for this constituent is the idea that by providing an opportunity like the OBIP for people like me, the government offered a small glimpse at the progressive changes necessary to create a healthier society for low-income people.

I appreciate your time in reading through this letter. This program is being cancelled before it has had a chance to prove that it can be successful.

I urge you to consider this letter and do what is in your power to help ensure that the programs helping to change the lives of the lower-income portion of our society are not dismissed without first taking a look at the benefits that the program has. These benefits are not limited to the individual and extend into the communities that we are a part of. We have the power and potential to contribute, too.

Alexandria Bell, Dundas