You’re invited to attend the Ontario Basic Income Network’s Annual General Meeting and to hear from guest speakers during a zoom meeting on:

Saturday, November 5th, 2022

9.30 am to 12.30 pm

Register in advance for this meeting:

https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUoce6qrz4sE9TphfwLnL5o7Ezv_ouBHcKu 

(agenda and reports will be shared prior to the meeting)

We will start our meeting with general business and conclude with guest speakers including Senator Bernadette Clement.  Updates on the Basic Income movements nationally and provincially will be provided.  

Please join us! 

Monday, October 24

5:30- 6:30 PM MDT

7:30- 8:30 PM EDT

A just recovery from the pandemic means that no one is left behind. What is Guaranteed Livable Basic Income? What does it mean for communities in the North?

Join us for a virtual event on why northern communities need Guaranteed Livable Basic Income. We’re looking forward to hearing from MP Leah Gazan and Craig Berggold. PSAC North REVP Lorraine Rousseau will moderate the discussion.

At the end of the event, participants will have the chance to take part in a digital action in support of our demand for Guaranteed Livable Basic Income.

There will be French and Inuktitut simultaneous interpretation.

On Tuesday, for the opening session of parliament, Basic Income Ottawa held a rally outside parliament to remind MPs of the importance of Basic Income. MPs like Leah Gazan, MP for Winnipeg Centre, came out to show their support. Ottawa City News came by and Joe Foster gave a great interview you can listen to here.

Mark your calendar! ​​On April 13, Green Resilience Project will be launching their final report, which summarizes a series of conversations hosted in communities across Canada on the links between climate change, income security and community resilience. They'll be chatting with a panel of our community partners about what they heard from their communities and where we go from here.

This event will be hosted via Zoom, which you can register for here.

Hope to see you there!

In an interview with BICN's Roderick Benns, Disability Without Poverty’s national director Rabia Khedr said that real headway is being made in securing a basic income for people with disabilities in Canada – and that’s good for the whole basic income movement.

“I support all people having a livable income,” Khedr said. As people with disabilities, we believe everyone has the right to have their basic needs met, regardless of their ability to work. We should be supporting society’s members with their basic needs so they’re not struggling.”

Khedr says basic income though is most clearly on the table for people with disabilities at the moment, given the most recent throne speech committed to the creation of a new Canadian Disability Benefit for people with disabilities.

The national director says her organization came about specifically as a result of the pandemic, which pushed people with disabilities “further into the margins.”

You can read the rest of the interview here.

NDP MP Leah Gazan, who represents Winnipeg Centre, introduced a private member’s bill to develop a national framework for a permanent Guaranteed Livable Basic Income (GLBI) in Canada. Gazan is proposing a GLBI for all people living in Canada over the age of 17 regardless of participation in the workforce or an educational training program. Gazan also says the proposal will take into account differences in costs of living regionally, and there are provisions to ensure people with exceptional health or disability needs do not have their services reduced. Senator Kim Pate will also be introducing a similar bill in the Senate. You can see Bill C-232 here and if you click Read more below for Gazan's statements.

Senator Kim Pate, a supporter of Basic Income, recently gave a speech which you can watch here on the economic recovery after introducing a motion which calls on the Senate’s National Finance Committee to examine the human, social and financial costs of abandoning people in poverty and the potential for implementing measures such as guaranteed livable basic income. You can find out more about her motion here.

December 3rd is International Day for People with Disabilities, and here at OBIN we just wanted to remind you that Persons with Disabilities represent 22% of the population in Canada, and many live well below the poverty line. A Basic Income not tied to work would help many of them, particularly those who are unable to work because of their disabilities, live more financially secure lives.

You can find a recent webinar organised by Basic Income Hamilton and The Basic Income Canada Youth Network on Basic Income and Youth on YouTube or here on the OBIN website.

It was moderated by Basic Income Canada Youth Network Co-Chairs Kendal David and Chloe Halpenny with speakers Alana Baltze, Manpinder Dhillon, Marie Dolcetti-Koros, Madi Fuller, and Debbie Owusu-Akyeeah.

Ontario Basic Income Network (OBIN) is accepting applications to join the C Team. If you want to join a welcoming team dedicated to promoting Basic Income, check out our call for applications. With provincial elections in Ontario and municipal elections in Toronto on the horizon for next year, this is the perfect time to get involved!