OBIN Facilitator's Corner

Welcome to 2020!

Thanks to those who have replied to our E-Blast. As of January, we have 23 positive responses. It’s not too late. If you haven’t, please do read the e-blast and vote. To be effective, it is important that we are all on the same page as we move forward.

As mentioned in our last Newsletter, we are assessing our technical tools and hope to have a new and improved website in the not too distant future. Your assistance in getting new members  signed up will help us in covering the cost of migrating to a new platform. 

Best wishes for 2020!

Joe Foster, OBIN C-Team Facilitator

OBIN Updates

Basic Income Canada Network Policy Paper Out

A policy paper released last week demonstrates that it is possible for Canada to have a Basic Income that is progressively structured and progressively funded.

Basic Income Canada Network (BICN) asked a team to model three options that are fair, effective and feasible in Canada.

All three options that were examined were based on a benefit of $22,000 per year for an individual. The report details a number of assumptions about how the options will work including intergovernmental relations and administrative matters. 

All options demonstrate a significant effect that basic income can have on poverty and economic security. Poverty is nearly completely eliminated and the lowest-income families see their disposable income increase by more than 350 percent in all three models.

It is a question of priorities the report’s co-author Sheila Regehr, chair of the network, told the Toronto Star.

“It is clear from child and seniors’ benefits that Basic Income works for many Canadians already. The federal government’s priority now must be to take leadership to make it work for everybody,” she said.

Find The Toronto Star story here.

See the Policy Paper here.

See a 4-page Summary Report here.

It's about Priorities

BICN wants the report to be discussed as part of our democratic process around the country.

Supporters of Basic Income are encouraged to share it on social media, with their MP, MPP or MLA, or with a local journalist, a non-governmental ally, the mayor or a municipal counsellor.

Basic income is both necessary and feasible—it’s not a matter of possibilities but of priorities. Decision-makers need to be urged to take action.

North American Basic Income Guarantee Congress (NABIG)

The 19th annual NABIG Congress takes place May 21-24, 2020 at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.

The major themes for NABIG 2020 are:

• The particular relevance of basic income to young people and their future wellbeing, and the importance of engaging youth in interrelated movements, especially those concerned with climate crisis and the future of the economy.
• Basic income and women’s equality and wellbeing, especially in the context of growing precarious employment, and the need to rethink ‘work’ and the relationship between women and the state.

Proposals for presentations, panels, and alternative expressions are now invited and are due by February 18th.

Find out more here.

OBIN's Tracy Smith-Carrier in the Toronto Star

Click here for the article!