The idea is simple: a non-refundable tax credit for all adults. The value of credit depends on the income of each person and his financial proximity to the poverty line. For one person, Statistics Canada has set the minimum at $22,500 per year.
The organizations understand that the county will have to obtain additional funds to provide a guaranteed minimum income.
In their document explaining and explaining the project proposal published on Wednesday, the organizations assert that it is possible to raise millions of dollars by increasing, among other things, the 1% GST and 2% tax, the two higher tax categories, as well as by imposing a tax On luxury products and carbon tax review.
These methods could generate anywhere from $628 million to $1.2 billion annually according to the calculations included in the proposal by Harvey Stevens, a professor of economics at the University of Manitoba, who helped put together the same type of proposal for Prince Edward Island.
The county cannot do it alone
Depending on the value of the guaranteed minimum income, the government is expected to spend anywhere from $471 million to $3.8 billion annually.
The organizations document ensures that the county can manage a portion of the revenue itself, but it will necessarily need help from the federal government.
The document also ensures that income assistance and some tax breaks will form part of the minimum guaranteed income, thus reducing the share that governments have to provide.
A necessary measure for many
We’ve seen an increase in poverty, food security, unemployment and concerns about affordable housing, says Doug Pawson, Executive Director of Ending Homelessness in St. John’s
, one of the ten organizations.
He assures us that a minimum guaranteed income can help solve these problems.
Debbie Wiseman is a Newfoundland and Labrador Social Justice CooperativeAnd the Ensures that the income assistance currently in effect is lower than the Canada Emergency Benefit (CEP).
When the epidemic hit us and fired PCUThe government decided that you must have at least $500 to be able to live
She explains that the current assistance represents only half of this amount.
Cooperative Social Justice Organization of Newfoundland and Labrador, Debbie Wiseman
Photo: Radio Canada/Adam Walsh (CBC)
She said that this minimum guaranteed income could help lift many people out of poverty. Wiseman says she grew up poor and realizes how difficult it is. She claims she saw people having to choose between food, rent, and an electric bill.
According to Ms. Wiseman, poverty is a public policy problem.
stop working
In addition to the cost, one of the main criticisms of the opponents of the minimum guaranteed income is that many people will decide not to work anymore.
Several studies, including a pilot project that never made it to Ontario, show the opposite. While many of the participants in the pilot project stopped working, more of them decided to go back to school in order to get a new job.
The ten organizations ensure in their proposal that a guaranteed minimum income allows more people to return to school and that the energy transition can take place more easily, given that some sectors will have to close while others will open.
With information from Andrea McGuire, CBC
