A Universal Basic Income Is Being Considered by Canada's Government
The Senate is studying a bill that would introduce a framework for a policy that would guarantee access to a livable income to everyone over 17.
guarantee access to a livable income
Is this another one of those Basic Income proposals that are means tested? Not really UBI if that is the case.
The Minister must develop a national framework for the implementation of a guaranteed livable basic income program throughout Canada for any person over the age of 17, including temporary workers, permanent residents and refugee claimants.
Source: https://www.parl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/44-1/bill/S-233/first-reading
After reading this document, I feel that it is still ambiguous. However 88 billion (the cost estimate in the OP article) divided by the population of canada is 2200, which I think wouldn't be considered a livable annual income, so I think what they're talking about must have some kind of means testing.
Please stop advocating for giving rich people money and just let poor people have some security. Seriously, we don't have to stick to a strict interpretation of UBI. We can make it work anyway we want.
No. I'm not trying to shit on welfare programs here as they are certainly better than nothing, but the universality is the entire reason basic income is something I am excited about and where I believe almost all of its social benefits come from. There are many reasons for this, but as someone who has been on various forms of means tested public assistance myself, my experience with the stigma, the stress and unapproachability of continually needing to navigate an arcane and dysfunctional bureacracy, and the paranoia about ending up worse off if I earn too much money, make it an issue I have a personal connection to and have strong feelings about.
There is certainly a place for debating whether a UBI or an expansive welfare program would be better, but I'm not trying to have that debate here. I am just asking for honest clarity of terms so that the public discourse won't be hopelessly confused as to which is which. Universal means Universal.
The Canadian gouvernement is going to look at thinking about a bill which would ask them how a UBI could be implemented
Do it!
