Portraits focus on Basic Income cancellation
TORONTO — An art exhibition that highlights the stories of people affected by the sudden cancellation of Ontario’s Basic Income Pilot Project is opening in Toronto this week.
“Humans of Basic Income,” a portrait series by photographer Jessie Golem — one of more than 4,000 Ontarians who were affected by the cancellation of the project — documents stories of people who were enrolled in the pilot.
In the series, Golem photographs ordinary Ontarians holding white boards with hand written notes that explain how they have been affected by the Progressive Conservative government’s July 31 decision.
In an interview last month, Golem told the Toronto Star how before the pilot she was working up to four jobs that left her exhausted. “For me personally, it affects my survival. I was depending on that money,” she said at the time. “It was an extremely frustrating existence.”
The pilot program was available to residents in Thunder Bay, Hamilton, Brantford and Lindsay, giving nearly $17,000 a year for a single person and $24,000 for a couple.
Social Services Minister Lisa MacLeod in early August said the province cut the $50-million program because it didn’t match the government’s focus on jobs.
“I was furious, obviously,” Golem said of her reaction to the decision. “They’re not even able to cite any sort of sources or data to justify why they were cancelling this.”
That was when Golem, a freelance photographer and member of Photographers Without Borders, decided to use her skills to document people like her who have had their hopes shattered.
The art exhibit opens with a reception Tuesday evening at the Black Cat Artspace.
The series has toured at several locations in Ontario, including in Thunder Bay and Hamilton earlier this month.