Persons with disabilities deserve a basic income

 By Evelyn Forget and Sheila Regehr Will the newly announced Canadian Disability Benefit get us there? Last month’s Throne Speech committed to the creation of a new Canadian Disability Benefit for persons with disabilities – that’s good news. The details remain vague, but some disability advocates have long championed a

Let’s revamp EI instead of pining for a Basic Income

 By Diane Bellemare The federal government has responded to critical economic need during the pandemic by adopting the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), providing $2,000 per month for people experiencing significant income loss due to COVID-19. The measure responds to an unprecedented crisis, but it also reflects major shortcomings with

Why a Canadian Basic Income is inevitable

 By: Evelyn L. Forget In Canadian policy circles, Basic Income has come to mean a stipend paid to families or individuals without the many conditions and rules that govern existing income assistance programs. The amount received is gradually reduced as income from other sources increases. However, Basic Income is not

Basic Income for Canadians

 Basic Income for Canadians  By: Evelyn L. Forget 216 pages * ISBN - 10:1459413504 Canadian social programs were designed for a world in which most people graduated from high school, then found a permanent job with benefits that, barring unforeseen accidents, they would hold until they retired with a pension

It’s Time to Test a Basic Income

 Recently I tabled a motion in the Senate calling on the government to create a pilot project that would test a basic income in Canada, also known as a guaranteed annual income. Canadians face immense challenges. Many families struggle to pay the rent, and some can’t afford their children’s school