TALKING POINTS: LETTER TO POLITICIANS

Use the letter below, or your own variation on this letter, to write to your representatives, municipal, provincial, or federal, to election candidates, and/or party leaders. You can copy, cut and paste as you like. Click here for Federal Candidates e-mails.

Dear Politician,

With the Federal election approaching, I wanted to write to you to urge you to support instituting a Basic Income in Canada.

What is a Basic Income?

A Basic Income is an income that ensures the recipient has enough money to meet the necessities of life, including food, clothing, shelter, and other resources that facilitate socialengagement, such as access to travel and a means of communication. A Basic Income would be paid to individual adults. The amount will be based upon an agreed upon poverty measure (around $20,000).

Why do we need a Basic Income?

1.    Many people are living in poverty or are just a step away from poverty. Poverty causes toxic stress which in turn causes social, emotional, and physical harm. People in poverty often experience food insecurity and live in inadequate housing and dangerous environments. The current social assistance system is insufficient, punitive and demoralizing. A Basic Income would drastically reduce poverty and allow people to participate as full citizens in society, with dignity and security.

2.    Employment is becoming increasingly precarious. Full-time, permanent employment opportunities are declining. A Basic Income would provide a much-needed safety net when a person is between jobs. A Basic Income would value and support all work: entrepreneurial endeavours, creative activities, caring for family and friends, volunteering, etc...

3.    Rural communities are suffering. Work is hard to find and infrastructure is crumbling. A Basic Income would infuse much need revenue into these communities. 

4.    Income disparity is at an all time high and growing. A small number of people control the great majority of wealth while many others suffer.

What does the research say?

1.    Pilot studies in countries as varied as Canada, Finland, and India show that, with a Basic Income, Poverty is dramatically reduced, paid work levels remain similar, people are able to make choices, health and well-being improves, hospital visits decline, trust in government goes up.

2.    In Canada, people 65 and over receive Old Age Security and a Guaranteed Income Supplement which is a form of Basic Income. After their implementation, poverty levels in seniors dropped dramatically and is now at levels below any other age group, food security and health improved.

 Is a Basic Income all we need?

Absolutely not! A Basic Income must be part of a comprehensive social safety net.

Is a Basic Income affordable in Canada?

Yes, but Provinces and Territories cannot do it alone. The Parliamentary Budget Office has costed a Basic Income. Studies using this estimate have shown that a Basic Income in Canada can be funded in a revenue neutral way through reallocation of selected federal tax credits, making the system more equitable and transferring benefits to those most in need.

What politicians can do.

1.    Make Basic Income a part of your party’s platform.

2.    Help develop a road map to a Basic Income.

3.    Urge all levels of government and all parties to work together to implement a Basic Income.

What will you do within your party and parliament to champion basic income and give all Canadians hope and capacity to build a better future? We urge you to champion a national basic income and we will help in any way we can. I am looking forward to your response.

If you would like further information, please contact Elizabeth Kay-Raining Bird, Chair of Basic Income Guarantee-Nova Scotia by email at rainbird@dal.ca.

Sincerely,

Your Name

Selected references and resources:

Basic Income Guarantee Nova Scotia (BIG-NS), https://www.facebook.com/basicincomeNS/

Basic Income Canada Network, https://www.basicincomecanada.org/

Forget, E. (2018). Basic Income for Canadians: The key to a healthier, happier, more secure life for all. Toronto, ON: James Lorimer & Co.

Standing, G. (2017). A Basic Income: How we can make it happen. Pelican Books.

Stevens, H., & Simpson, W. (2017) Toward a National Universal Guaranteed Basic Income, Canadian Public Policy, Volume 43, Issue 2,120-139.