Approval of Basic Income at NF Council

A vote to ask senior levels of government to research the idea narrowly passes

A lively, good debate Tuesday afternoon during Niagara Falls city council concerning a Guaranteed Basic Income program.

A motion was brought forth by Councillor Lori Lococo, who wants to see provincial and federal governments implement such a program.

After much discussion, Mayor Jim Diodati was the tie breaking vote in asking for the higher levels of government to further research the idea, but not implement it.  That was an amendment to Councillor Lococo's original motion.

While the mayor says he supports the idea, the potential cost concerns him, especially after the CERB program during COVID.  "I don't know how I would describe it, but it caused a lot of conflict.  There's a lot of unfilled jobs, a lot of people waiting for their cheques to arrive, a lot of abuse took place.  I know first hand of a number of situations, they called it the great resignation as no one wanted to work."

Councillor Lococo pointed out current social assistance programs are not working, while billions are spent on them, and the money used for basic income would come from those programs.  She adds such a program would reduce health care costs, as well as in criminal justice and emergency wards.

Councillor Wayne Campbell echoed the re-direction of money, but he also noted that it takes a family 3 generations to get out of poverty.

Councillors couldn't agree on the cost, with suggestions ranging from billions of dollars to tens of billions.

Councillor Mona Patel expressed concern about the cost, adding Canada's national debt is at $1.2-trillion.  "Taxpayers are paying $3.5-billion a month, just in interest.  Could you imagine how much housing we can build with just one month of interest?  The second carbon tax just kicked in July 1st, and that increases the cost of everything."

Resident Sandra MacKinnon talked to council about her years on social assistance that began in 1995.  The divorced mother of three spoke of taking university courses, becoming a social worker, and how that fell through.  She says it's a struggle for some people who face financial hardship to even get up every morning, so a program like this would go a long way.