Local Politicians On Board With Basic Income

RODERICK BENNS

MP Jamie Schmale, MPP Laurie Scott, and City of Kawartha Lakes’ Mayor Andy Letham are all on board in supporting the basic income pilot in Lindsay.

Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock Conservative MP Jamie Schmale tells The Lindsay Advocate he’s all for the pilot if Ontario Works is eliminated and the so-called ‘boutique tax credits’ go.

“If basic income is a switch from the current way of doing things, then absolutely,” he says.

“However, if this pilot program is in addition to our sizable bureaucracy and complicated tax system, the program will be unaffordable. At the end of the day though, people keeping more of the money they earn is a good thing and that is what the basic income does.”

Boutique tax credits are a nickname for small tax credits given to narrow segments of the population and have typically been used to curry favour with particular voters.

People in the pilot could receive up to $16,989 per year for a single person and up to $24,027 per year for a couple, less 50 per cent of any earned income. People with a disability would receive up to an additional $500 per month.

Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock MPP Laurie Scott says she is certain that as incomes increase under a basic income, or through finding a better job, it would lead to improved health.

The Progressive Conservative MPP says she is “glad Lindsay was chosen” and that she welcomes the basic income pilot. Scott, who was a registered nurse, says the link between poverty and income is clear. In fact, income has been identified by Health Canada as the single most important determinant of health. “If you can lift people up, be it through a job, or in this case basic income, I’m sure their health will improve,” she says. The MPP thinks the basic income pilot will certainly help the local economy. “Money in people’s pockets is money they’ll spend, my father used to say,” she says, referring to the late former federal Member of Parliament, Bill Scott.

Mayor of the City of Kawartha Lakes, Andy Letham, says he gives kudos to the Province of Ontario for testing a basic income here. “The cost of poverty on people’s mental health is real,” says Letham. “So how do we break these cycles? Because the way we’re doing things now, as a society, doesn’t seem to be working.”

The mayor also acknowledges that precarious work – work that is part-time, temporary, or contractbased – is another cause of concern. “The fact is, the same kind of jobs aren’t there anymore and people are struggling – sometimes barely keeping their heads above water.”