Growing a movement: the Canadian context

‘If a wealthy, G7 nation like Canada were to adopt some form of basic income policy, it would surely signal a social economy revolution for the world.’ Every great movement springs from the unmet needs of the people. Every successful movement occurs when those same needs are recognised by a willing faction of innovative policymakers, not afraid to challenge the old ways. Here, then, is the basic income movement in Canada, on the cusp of convergence of these two truths. On the one hand, a precarious class of people has emerged, made up of lower income workers trapped in part-time work, millennials feeling a sense of career frustration and urgency, and educated professionals trapped in perennial cycles of contract work. The same story plays out in the UK, US, and other western nations. On the other hand, there is growing high level political support across all three levels of Canada’s political system – municipal, provincial, and federal – to remedy this through some form of guaranteed minimum income. A health imperative Basic income manages to straddle a broad range of critical public policy, and none as important as health. There is strong evidence of its potential benefits from the health sector, and especially from research that demonstrates the impact of the social determinants of health on entire populations. There is also strong support alongside this evidence from many health organisations and health practitioners within local, provincial, and national public health organisations across Canada. The Alberta and Ontario Public Health Associations have made clear statements of support. A growing number of local health units from municipalities across Canada’s largest province, Ontario, have endorsed the concept of a basic income including the Haliburton, Kawartha Pine Ridge, Simcoe Muskoka, and Sudbury District Health Units. The Association of Local Public Health Agencies and the Ontario Boards of Health have also endorsed basic income and are requesting that the federal ministers across a broad range of government ministries prioritise ‘joint federal-consideration and investigation into a basic income guarantee as a policy option for reducing poverty and income insecurity.’ Key medical associations in the country have also given support for a basic income along with the Canadian Medical Association.

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