Guaranteed Liveable Income an Important Election Issue

It’s absolutely an important election issue. The causes of poverty are complex, and there is no doubt that several provincial policies have the ability to influence poverty. Unlike other provinces, BC does not have a poverty reduction plan in place. In the past year Nelson has been researching other communities with poverty reduction plans and began the “Nelson At It’s Best” discussions. Research shows that one of the best ways to reduce poverty is to simply know your neighbors – break down the “us and them” thinking to realize that we are all in this together and that all citizens (including the wealthiest) benefit if poverty is reduced.
Like a higher minimum wage, having a guaranteed minimum wage would be only one piece of the puzzle, and must be implemented in concert with other strategies that address the many faces of poverty.

I believe this is a very important issue and it is very personally significant given my past work with children and community services. The average income in the Nelson-Creston riding was lower than most of the rest of the province in 2013. The number of seniors was also 5% higher indicating less people engaged in the workforce. For our economy to be robust we need a mix of large and small business, home business and adequate daycare and transportation. All of these things are difficult to coordinate for families on the current minimum wage.

Because we are largely tourism and service industry based it is also difficult for small business to absorb large increases in wages. Our social safety nets are many and complicated and require significant administration for all levels of government and businesses. It would be interesting to know if we could provide an guaranteed annual income that replaced many of the current programs and allowed people to live with dignity and health. The notion that it would kill motivation is somewhat of a red herring. Most people want more than a basic income and are passionate about their work. While there is always a fear that governments that rule by austerity would cut such a program after other safety nets were amalgamated, I think studying the guaranteed income experiment in Dauphin, Manitoba and elsewhere is worth consideration for developing Green Party policy.