Opinion | Basic Income Guarantee is the best way to improve lives – TheSpec.com

We are concerned that the public is not sufficiently aware of what has been happening with regard to the Ontario governments Poverty Reduction Strategy launched over a year ago. An American consortium, FedCap, has been hired to replace the services previously offered by Employment Ontario in 12 regions of Ontario. This change began as a pilot in Peel, Hamilton Niagara and Muskoka-Kawarthas in October 2020 and was expanded to nine more regions in June 2021. Part of this organizations mandate is to help people receiving benefits from the Ontario Disability Support Program and Ontario Works find employment. The problem is this organization does not have a good track record, and advocates for people with disabilities are sounding the alarm.

The focus of the Poverty Reduction Strategy is to increase the number of people moving from social assistance to employment. On the surface this may seem like a positive goal but we are talking about many people who have been medically declared unable to work because of a disability. FedCap may be able to find a short-term job for some people with disabilities, but when the measure of success is simply the number of people placed in jobs, the incentive for this organization is to ignore the reality that many of these job placements are for very short-term work that will leave the recipient returning to social assistance again and again. And it is likely that people will be pressured to accept employment for which they are very unsuited.

It also appears that the government has determined that this model works before it has even been tested. The pilot, run in the three districts of Peel, Hamilton-Niagara and Muskoka Kawarthas was not completed or evaluated before the same model was rolled out in nine additional regions.

This model is similar to a failed program tried over two decades in Australia called Jobactive. A 2019 report to the Australian Senate entitled Jobactive: Failing Those it is Intended to Serve, made 41 recommendations including several that recipients of the services should be included and consulted in the planning process. Stakeholder consultation has not occurred in Ontario. Those who will rely on this program have not had an opportunity to comment or critique the changes to these services.Historically, we know that privatization in Ontario has not gone well. Think of the privatization of highway maintenance services, highway 407 itself and long-term care facilities. These things have not saved money in the long run and have resulted in inferior service delivery.

Social services should be provided by the government with the goal of providing services to those in need while maintaining dignity. The title Poverty Reduction Strategy sounds good. However, there is a much better doable, affordable solution to virtually eliminate poverty and to facilitate people being able to live in dignity in Ontario and Canada. It is a Basic Income Guarantee. Many studies have demonstrated that when people receive a Basic Income Guarantee they do not stop working or looking for work. In fact, in many cases, recipients use the benefit to upgrade their skills or education so that they can find better employment and improve their quality of life.

We encourage you to find out more about the changes to the delivery of these services to some of our most vulnerable citizens. Contact your MPP and ask where they stand on this important issue.

Colleen Cooper and Carol Stalker are members of Basic Income Waterloo Region.

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Opinion | Basic Income Guarantee is the best way to improve lives - TheSpec.com