Book Launch About Basic Income Comes to Local Café
/The Basic Income Peterborough Network, KPR Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario and Nourish hosted a launch for “The Case for Basic Income – Freedom, Security, Justice” by Elaine Power and Jamie Swift at The Silver Bean Café, on Wednesday.
Elaine Powers and Jamie Swift sign books on Wednesday. Photo by Angela O’Grady.
Swift, a journalist from Kingston, began exploring the idea of a basic income in 2013 while working with the Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul, a social activism group of Catholic Nuns.
The duo met when Swift moved to Kingston and began teaching at Queen’s University.
Under the leadership of former Liberal premier Kathleen Wynne, Hamilton and Lindsay were both selected as trial sites for the Ontario Basic Income Pilot in 2017.
This program saw 4,000 low-income earners receive $17,000 if they were single and $24,000 if coupled and included a $6,000 top-up for disabled people.
For people working low-wage jobs while participating, their basic income was reduced by 50 cents for every dollar they earned until they hit a cap of $34,000 for singles and about $48,000 for couples.
This pilot program ended a few months after it started when Doug Ford was voted premier.
Swift and Power began interviewing individuals that participated in the pilot program in 2018 and released the book in May 2021.
“I hope that anyone that reads this learns that Canada’s social assistance system is broken and corrupted and cruel. We live in a country that has more than enough to provide everybody with enough,” said Swift. “Basic livable income is one tool to address Canada - one of the richest countries in the world, that has millions of people living in poverty - basic livable income is one way to address Canada’s gnawing and grinding issue.”
Peterborough’s jazz trio, Chester Babcock perform at the Silver Bean on Wednesday. Photo by Angela O’Grady.
