Is Ontario cutting back on the right things?
We need to speak to the Ford government in one, united, compassionate voice
Balancing the budget. We must do this in our own homes and businesses, and as a province we also must do it. It is not easy. Where do we draw the line? In our own homes if we went through our budgets we would not want to cut basic needs such as food, clothing, and shelter because they are necessities. During the recent provincial election campaign, the premier-to be vowed to create a “government for the people,” and reduce expenditures. So, we expected cutbacks. But as a province, are we cutting back on the right things?
After lengthy research in 2016 the former Ontario government launched The Basic Income Pilot Project to test how a basic income might help people living on low incomes better meet their basic needs, while improving outcomes in such areas as food security, anxiety, mental health, health care usage and housing stability just to name a few.
The project has 4,000 participants along with a comparison group of 2,000 people (who do not receive the Basic Income) living in Hamilton, Brantford, Brant County, Thunder Bay and Lindsay, and insured that the selected participants receive up to: $16,989 per year for a single person, less 50 per cent of any earned income, $24,027 per year for a couple, less 50 per cent of any earned income, while people with a disability receive up to $500 per month on top.
The provincial government website now states that effective March 2019 the province is ending the basic income pilot project; the site states, ‘Ontario’s Government for the People Announces Compassionate Wind Down of Basic Income Research Project’. Interesting way of framing this — compassionate wind down. The reason? Too expensive. But social assistance is an expense anyway. We need to figure out how to create a system that enables people to better their situations. That was the point of the study. The new government solution is to transition participants to ‘more proven support programs’ and then hold a 100-day review of social assistance and poverty reduction strategies in Ontario to best assist the one in seven people in the province who are living in poverty. Isn’t this what the previous provincial government was working to do? If there were more proven programs, the basic income pilot project would not have been started in the first place.
The government says the project would have an extraordinary cost for Ontario taxpayers, and would require increasing the HST from 13 per cent to 20 per cent if implemented across the province. Is that really the case? Surely this research would also allow us as a province to figure out where the money could come from; it wouldn’t necessarily have to be from raising taxes. Now we are right back to where we started.
There are far reaching effects to this which many of us don’t realize. We want to create a more equal opportunity in our society. If we make the pilot income changes in one generation it can have a positive effect in the next generation. Many on the Basic Income Pilot Project were either working and/or able to improve their housing situation. Many are single mothers.
From my work with women, I know that the cancellation of the project may mean one or all the following: less favourable housing (which is already an enormous problem (in October 2017, the average rental rate in the Hamilton census metropolitan area was $1,020 (Hamilton Spectator, September 7, 2018, A3), lack of funds for bus passes, Presto cards, food, baby items including formula, personal hygiene items, groceries, and money for laundry. What if a person is living in an abusive situation, how are we enabling them to make it on their own? What if they can’t afford a cellphone card, something they would need for their own personal safety?
For many the choice is going to continue to be between providing for their children and going without themselves. Many women I have spoken with over the years have said they go without eating as they want the food for their children. These are necessities most of us take for granted daily. They are basic needs, that when compromised, can impact one’s personal health and safety.
Each one of us can have a part in advocating for equal opportunity. The Basic Income Pilot project will barely be a blip on the radar because it never got a chance to have an impact. Many of us may not even realize what it was all about or how far reaching its effect may be on our future. Let’s advocate for each other. Write your local MPP, get informed, there is strength in numbers. This isn’t the first time we have needed to be united in a voice for change, and it won’t be last. Let’s make sure we don’t lose our say.