Basic income gave me, and many others, a voice at last
Efforts like the recent McMaster study go a long way to pushing back against the stigma around poverty
Recently, an important study was completed by McMaster University, aided by the Hamilton Community Foundation and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
The study delved into how Ontario’s Basic Income Pilot impacted the lives of its participants. It found that the pilot created a great deal of positive change in their lives. In addition, it gave more accurate insight into what the policy proposal looks like when put into practice: it did much to dismiss the notion that a basic income results in adverse impacts to individual work ethic in those who receive its benefit. Participants’ stories of life improvement reverberate throughout the report, lending a great deal of empowerment and validation to their experiences by highlighting them, and placing them in the public view for all to see.
While I do not claim to speak for anyone other than myself, my lived experience is included among those stories shared with the study’s authors. It is on this basis that I feel their hard work and dedication should not go without some form of response, even if it is only on my own behalf. Those who worked on the McMaster University Basic Income Project have put forward great effort to ensure that some form of data recovery in the aftermath of this pilot’s cancellation occurs. Beyond their usual work of gathering data, by completing this project and disseminating its results to the wider public, they have also worked to ensure our experiences as participants are remembered, rather than lost to the passage of time. In doing so, they ensured our voices and stories are honoured.
Even if some may not recognize the validity of these stories, it is clear that most of the pilot’s participants know the project improved their lives. My own life has been enhanced by the benefits of a post-secondary education and the chance for a brighter future that comes with it.
A basic income gave me previously unavailable flexibility to work toward a better position that I did not have before its introduction. It is no secret that poverty carries very serious and continual consequences for our communities and those who live in them. Consequently, I do not believe it would be unreasonable to assume that this report means a great deal to those who gave their stories to its researchers.
More must be done to ensure that vulnerable people in our communities are heard and given a voice, as well as a chance to succeed and feel included. In order to ensure a more humane and fair society, we must implement more proactive measures which work to support those who may face difficulty in their lives due to unforeseen or uncontrollable circumstances which may lessen their quality of life. What we must not downplay, degrade, or dismiss people’s accounts of hardship. Efforts like this study go a long way in pushing back against harmful narratives of stigma, and I believe our society is made all the better because of these efforts.
To those who worked toward the timely completion of this study and gave us some time to speak and be heard, I give my deepest thanks.
Coady Paquette was a participant in Ontario’s Basic Income pilot project, cancelled after only one year by the Ford government.