Class action lawsuit filed against province
LINDSAY — Four Lindsay residents have filed a class action lawsuit for breach of contract against the province in the wake of the Progressive Conservative government’s cancellation of the basic income pilot project.
On Monday Dana Bowman and Tracey Mechefske told an audience at the Day’s Inn in Lindsay how they had made plans to improve their lives when they signed up for the pilot in April last year, providing the government with detailed personal information to be approved and expecting the pilot to run its three-year term.
Mike Perry, a social advocate for the program who is also a lawyer, is representing the plaintiffs in the suit, which he filed in court that morning. Perry is representing the plaintiffs pro bono. Two of them, Susan Lindsay and Grace Marie Doyle Hillion, were unable to attend the announcement.
Roderick Benns, publisher of the social advocacy magazine
The Lindsay Advocate, organized the event, saying the pilot program “was a chance to change the channel on how we look at poverty.”
Under the program, which the Liberals launched in April 2017, to run in test communities of Lindsay, Thunder Bay and Hamilton-Brant, more than 4,000 people were given a basic income of up to $17,000 a year. Couples received up to $24,000.
About 2,000 people in Lindsay enrolled. People on Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) or Ontario Works were transferred to the program’s payments. Benns noted he had heard from many people after the new Ford government cancelled the program on July 31, saying many had found better living quarters, were able to pay bills and had a chance at a better life.
Labour Minister Laurie Scott, the MPP for Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock, has said Social Services Minister Lisa MacLeod announced the cancellation because the new government had “too many concerns about the program” and that the government plans to do more to integrate recipients back into the workforce.
Perry said the court filings included the suit for breach of contract and damages, and an application to the court requesting a judicial review of the decision.
He said the suit “isn’t about damages.”
“We take no joy in this,” he said. “It is not fun to sue the government…this will be a David versus Goliath (fight).” He called the plaintiffs “brave Davids.” He said if the court grants the class action status, other plaintiffs in the remaining test communities would be invited to join the suit.
Perry said people who signed up for the program were in a contract with the (then-Liberal) government; they had completed surveys and provided significant details about their personal lives as part of the program’s data research. They also made plans after receiving the payments, working toward improving their lives.
Perry said the basis for the lawsuit argues the basic income program is a legal contract between the government and the participants — which was breached by the cancellation.
Bowman said while medical issues put her on ODSP she “felt like a criminal in my own community.” Government cuts to other programs that helped her made life even more difficult. But, it was basic income that “gave me back my dignity…I didn’t have to use food banks anymore.
“Now, I’m going to have to go back to shopping in the ‘dayolds’,” she said.
Mechefske said she, too, was on ODSP for health issues, and her husband “works terribly hard and we still can’t make ends meet. He can’t take any vacation because we can’t afford it.”
Basic income allowed her to start a small business making all-natural products, and she invested money in shows for the next several months to get the word out.
“I had a three-year plan. Now, I won’t be able to afford the ingredients to make my products, and all the money invested in the shows is gone.”
Mechefske said ODSP payments are not enough to meet the cost of living. But, it was meeting the criteria for basic income and having it cancelled that pushed her toward the lawsuit.
“It was not a handout … I had to open my life to the government; tell them what I was eating, what I was wearing, what I was buying…”
Perry said politicians “can’t just make decisions off the top of their heads…there needs to be backup research and data.”
He said the plaintiffs want the program reinstated and are willing to withdraw the lawsuit if the government reverses its decision.
While Perry is acting pro bono, there will be court fees associated with the suit, and volunteers who can offer help in other areas are welcome.
NOTE: There will be a page set up at gofundme.com and people seeking more information about the suit can email basicincomecase@gmail.com.