Guelph Arts Council (GAC) called on the federal government to establish a guaranteed basic income for everyone.

“We agree that basic income is essentially a human right,” said GAC executive director Patti Broughton. “When people have their basic needs met and have a certain level of a modest financial security, it can really put people in a better place to improve their lives, to find work, to start new businesses, to resume or continue their art practices.”

On May Day, Saturday, May 1st at 2 pm, a panel speaking on basic income & the arts will take place. The panel was co-organized by Toronto's The Power Plant Contemporary Gallery website and CARFAC-Ontario (professional visual artists union).

The panel will be moderated by Jason Samilski, Managing Director of CARFAC Ontario, and will explore what a Basic Income Guarantee is, how it would benefit artists and all Canadians, and how artists are well-positioned to provide leadership.

Small Business Enterprises (SMEs) create most of the jobs in Canada. A basic income would provide a fallback for startup owners. Rob Evans is one entrepreneur who has done his research and is convinced that a basic income is good for the country. Further information can be found in THE CASE FOR BASIC INCOME FOR SMALL BUSINESSES section.

Liberal delegates to the party's policy convention have overwhelmingly endorsed a resolution calling for the establishment of a universal basic income (UBI) in Canada. It was adopted by 77 per cent of attendees at the virtual convention.

The Honourable Kim Pate, C.M. | L’honorable Kim Pate, C.M.

Senator for Ontario | Sénatrice pour l’Ontario

Statement

An Idea Whose Time Has Come: Implementing Guaranteed Livable Income Delivers on Anti-Poverty Promises at Net Zero Cost 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OTTAWA, WEDNESDAY APRIL 7, 2021—The federal Liberal government has committed to reducing poverty by 50% by 2030. A guaranteed livable income would achieve this by next year and a net zero cost with minimal impact on the labour market. 

Toronto Arts Council has joined the leaders of Canada’s largest municipal arts councils for the very first time to advocate on behalf of the artists and residents of Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Toronto and Winnipeg. You can read their strong statement of advocacy on their web page here.

In an announcement in the Globe and Mail on 20 March, the councils presented their case for a basic income for artists in Canada. It begins,

"As we come to terms with the one-year anniversary of COVID lockdowns, Canada’s arts community is focused on creating a brighter and more sustainable future. A future that takes advantage of the upheaval wrought by the pandemic, to repair the broken model outlined by Marsha Lederman on March 13 (Eight ways to fix the arts industry, postpandemic). To be effective, this repair will include provision of a Basic Income Guarantee."

We will be featuring quotations and facts around basic income on a periodic but at least, weekly basis.

The majority of items will be Canadian Quotes and Facts. If you have any “good ones”, please send them along to us at [email protected]

The Final Report of the British Columbia Expert Panel on Basic Income was released in January 2021 and seems to provide another chapter in how to build bureaucracy without solving any problems. Senator Kim Pate, a stalwart champion of basic income released this statement in response to the report emphasising that the proposed solution "recommends continuing to slowly tinker with this patchwork of programs that we know, by design, will leave people in need still falling through the cracks".

A letter-to-the-editor was published in many regional papers in response to an op-ed entitled Federal carbon tax could lead to food insecurity for many Canadians.