Ontario offer amazing hope for people living in Poverty

Canada have always been good about looking after their citizens who cannot look after themselves.  Now Ontario is running a program where they are offering a basic income for people who live in poverty.  The income is a no-strings-attached payment and is available for adults between the ages of 18 and 64, whose incomes are under $ 34 thousand per annum.

Three people who are lucky enough to be part of this pilot program, Margie Goold, Lance Digman and Wendy Moore, all say how their lives have been changed.  Goold suffers from a debilitating arthritis.  DIngman lost a leg to an unusual bone disease.  And Wendy Moore is homeless.   They each get on average $1400 per month and say how they finally have their independence back.  Rather than being reliant on others, they can provide their own medical requirements and equipment, get around on their own, fill their own fridges, and in the case of Moore, pay her own rent.

The program is to see whether a constant income actually takes pressure off the government rather than put it on the government.  Rather than being reliant on soup kitchens and hand outs, people who are part of the study and poor, can finally manage on their own.  Their confidence is boosted which in turn helps their self-esteem which in an odd way, improves their productivity.

The program, still in pilot phases, is to work out if a fixed income for the poor or disabled is better than government hand outs and subsidies that are not secure.  It’s done under strict supervision.  If the person receiving the money gets a job, they are no longer financially eligible for the program.  If they marry, the amount changes. 

So far over 3000 people have enrolled for the project.  At the end of the 3 years, Ontario will decide whether to do a massive roll-out, or to look at other options.