Hi All,
what follows is a copy of the original Newsletter from BICN. If you wish to receive the original version of the Newsletter (recommended), visit https://www.basicincomecanada.org/subscribe and subscribe to the newsletter. The copy you see here misses , digital graphics, images and other features.
Exciting news -- we now have a confirmed date for NABIG 2020! It will be held May 21-24, 2020, in Hamilton, Ontario. Please see below for the full announcement!
In this newsletter you'll also find: highlights from The Horizons Fall 2019 Issue on Poverty and Health, recent media coverage on BI -- including a new study of the Canada Child Benefit -- a UBI essay contest, and details for the upcoming OIBN Lobby Day on Nov. 20.
SAVE THE DATE - NABIG 2020!
The Basic Income Canada Network and the United States Basic Income Guarantee Networkare pleased to announce the 2020 Congress. The 19th North American Basic Income Guarantee (NABIG) Congress will be held on 21 – 24 May, 2020 in Hamilton, Ontario.
We are very grateful to The Faculty of Social Sciences at McMaster University for partnering with us to make this gathering possible, and to other community organizations and volunteers. We hope for a large and diverse gathering, and together we will work to make it a great success.
Please stay tuned for further information. We will shortly put out a Call for Participation for those interested in submitting proposals for workshop presentations and other structured contributions to the program.
For everyone interested in coming to learn, exchange and advance the basic income movement, more information on the program, location, how to register, and travel and accommodation will be provided in the coming weeks.
Highlights from Horizons Fall 2019 issue on Poverty and Health
Queen's University's Department of Family Medicine Global Health program has released its Fall publication on Poverty and Health.
It includes articles from BICN Board member Tara Kainer and Elaine Power at the OBIP. We've included highlights below. The read the full issue, click here.
By Tara Kainer
From The Tyee to The National Post, Globe & Mail, Huffington Post and The Star, journalists describe the housing situation in Canada as a “crisis.” Foreign investment, speculation, low interest rates, inadequate supply, and higher construction costs have all led to a dramatic spike in the cost of housing, leaving even those who earn reasonably good incomes struggling to afford home ownership or rentals.
To read the full article, click here (article begins on p.15).
By Elaine Power On July 31, 2018, recently elected MPP and then Minister of Children, Community and Social Services Lisa Macleod rose in the Ontario Legislature and announced the cancellation of the Ontario Basic Income Pilot (OBIP) project, which had been running for a little more than a year. In doing so, she broke Premier Doug Ford’s campaign promise from a few months earlier that a Conservative government, if elected, would continue the pilot. Macleod’s move stunned anti-poverty activists and pulled the rug out from the approximately 4,000 participants who had signed a three-year contract with the Ontario government and had been receiving their cheques.
To read the full article, click here (article begins on p. 20).
Canada Child Benefit helped reduce number of families with severe food insecurity: study The Canada Child Benefit has helped reduce food insecurity for some of the poorest Canadians, according to a new study by Valerie Tarasuk, a professor of nutritional sciences at U of T.
To read the Global News story, click here.
Economic Incentives don't always do what we want them to This is a profound and well-written editorial in the New York Times, from this year’s Nobel Prize winning economists:
To read the article, click here.
The case for finally adopting a universal basic income This recent editorial in the Toronto Star by Katie Davey, 2019/2020 Action Canada Fellow, makes a compelling case for universal BI.
To read the article, click here.
UBI Essay Prize The UBIEXP research group and the journal Ethics, Politics & Society (EPS), from the Centre for Ethics, Politics and Society, together with the Portuguese Basic Income association, invite submissions for the international essay prize competition on the following topic:
"What (if Anything) Can Justify Basic Income Experiments?"
• The journal EPS welcomes essays of 7,000 words or fewer addressing this topic.
• The essays must be written in English.
• All submissions should be headed “Unconditional Basic Income Prize Essay Competition” (with the author's name and address given in the e-mail, but NOT in the essay itself).
• Submissions are blind reviewed.
Contributions may be sent as email attachments in word format to: roberto.merrill@ilch.uminho.pt.
The winner of the best essay will receive €1000 and the essay will be published in the journal EPS.
Submission deadline: 15 January 2020
Upcoming Events
OBIN Lobby Day - November 20, 2019 The Ontario Basic Income Network is holding a Basic Income Lobby Day at Queen's Park November 20, 2019. The purpose of this event is to encourage relationship-building with the goal of getting issues surrounding basic income onto the Legislative agenda. Participation from all parties has been confirmed. There will be a reception for MPPs and individual meetings have been set up with several MPPs to share information about the importance of basic income.
Get in Touch With Us
To get in touch with BICN please contact our General Manager, Ben Earle by email at info@basicincomecanada.org.
As always, we welcome your feedback on this newsletter, as well as any contributions you may have to share with our community. To submit news, events, or other items of interest, please contact BICN’s communications liaison, Melissa Hughes, at media@basicincomecanada.org .
Sheila Regehr