Basic income legal action in new year

Province faces two court cases for nixing pilot

Legal action against the Ontario government launched after the cancellation of the basic income pilot project is expected to go to court in the new year.

A request to the court to overturn the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services’ decision to cancel what was supposed to be a three-year pilot project is scheduled to be heard in Ontario Superior Court in late January. Hamilton, Brantford and the County of Brant have served as a location for the pilot with 1,000 local recipients. Lindsay and Thunder Bay are the other sites.

“We are busy preparing our case,” said Lindsay lawyer Mike Perry in a news release. “Evidence takes time and we have to give the government time to respond to our materials before the case is heard.”

There is also a second legal challenge — a class-action lawsuit launched by four Lindsayarea residents for damages over breach of contract for cancelling the project without notice less than halfway through.

If the request to overturn the minister’s decision is successful in January and the program continues, the class action lawsuit won’t be necessary, according to the news release.

“We will be ready to go ahead with the class action right away if we have to,” said Perry, who is representing the plaintiffs pro bono in the suit.

If the class action is expected to proceed in the new year, program participants will be informed on how they can become part of the lawsuit.

Last year, the previous Liberal government launched what was intended to be a three-year program for 4,000 people in Ontario that paid a guaranteed income of up to $17,000 a year for individuals and $24,000 for couples, less 50 per cent for income earned.

The move to cancel the pilot program — announced in July — has been met with much backlash, including from recipients. Participants have spoken about the impact the program has had on their lives and expressed concern about what the cancellation means for them.

Payments to eligible participants will continue until the end of March.

Last week, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh called on Ottawa to step in and continue the program.

But that call to action got a cool response from the office of JeanYves Duclos, the federal minister of families, children and social development.

Duclos’ spokesperson Valérie Glazer said while Ottawa is open to sharing data with provinces launching income initiatives, “ultimately the design of provincial social programs, such as a basic income, is up to provincial governments.”

With files from the Toronto Star