Universal basic income gets vote of support

Pandemic should prompt a rethink of social programs, Kitchener council urges

KITCHENER — The country needs to come up with a better way to help those going through financial hardship, Kitchener council signalled Monday, voting in support of a motion for a universal basic income.

“The economy is going to be flat for quite some time,” predicted

Coun. Bil Ioannidis, who brought forward the resolution. Unemployment has reached unprecedented levels, with more than a million jobs gone in Canada in March, he said.

Federal pandemic relief is estimated to cost about $82 billion so far, while the federal Parliamentary Budget Office estimated in 2018 that a Canada-wide basic income would cost about $44 billion a year. A guaranteed minimum income would have benefits such as reducing demand for health and social services and create a simpler, more streamlined system for people who need to access financial aid, he said.

Council approved the resolution 8-3, but some councillors questioned the wisdom of urging the federal and provincial government to consider what could potentially be a

costly program.

It’s not clear what such a program would cost and what impact it would have on the economy, said Coun. Scott Davey, who opposed the resolution along with Paul Singh and John Gazzola.

There was disagreement about whether this is the time for the federal government to consider a potentially costly program.

“The last thing I think we should be doing is putting additional pressure on seniors levels of government,” Davey said.

“If you don’t bring this forward when there’s a time of need, when are you going to bring it forward?” Ioannidis said.

“This is the perfect time to think outside the box.”

Singh called it an “idealistic” idea that wasn’t practical when the economy is shrinking and governments are going into debt.

Others, like Coun. Dave Schnider, disagreed, saying it was always the right time “to try and look after one another.”

Social safety nets like unemployment insurance were introduced during the Great Depression, pointed out Coun. Sarah Marsh, and the coronavirus pandemic has made clear that some of those supports are inadequate, and that many people in the community are suffering.

“Our world has changed,” said Mayor Berry Vrbanovic.

“When we come out of this pandemic, we need to come out better than we were before.”

The aim of the resolution is to encourage innovation thinking so that everyone is assured a reasonable basic income, without dictating what a new program should look like, Ioannidis said.