Thank you for responding, Eleanor. I didn't know that the GAI had been tried
in Manitoba and Segal didn't mention it. What he did say, however, is that it
costs some $240,000 to keep a person in prison for a year. Providing a family
with income of just above the low income cut-off would be considerably less
than that. Indeed, you might be able to provide a GAI to five or six families
for the price of one prisoner. However, I do appreciate that our present
government is into building prisons and incarceration, not the social
well-being of poor families.
Ed
----- Original Message -----
From: Eleanor Glor
To: [email protected]
Sent: Monday, May 07, 2012 11:16 PM
Subject: RE: [Ottawadissenters] RE: [Futurework] Meeting on social rights
issues
Thanks for sharing this, Ed.
Here's my thoughts on your questions:
1. If it made that much sense and could readily be implemented, why
hasn't it been done?
It was done. A demonstration project was run in Manitoba for about ten years
during the 1970s. It was not implemented nationally for two reasons. (1) It was
very costly. (2) During the 1970s the Canadian and western economies took a
dive because of two oil crises, involving big increases in the price of oil.
Since then there have been cuts in taxes to the wealthy and little increase in
salaries for the middle class, translating into stagnant government revenues
and purchasing power. I can't think of any new social programs that have been
funded since then.
2. Why isn't Segal pushing very hard instead of just making speeches?
I think he is pushing hard but that the current Conservative government isn't
listening to him. I have trouble imagining a scenario in which the
Conservatives would fund a GIA. If any new money was made available, it would
go to the deserving poor e.g. the mentally ill (the news today does not hold
much promise, though).
Eleanor
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Arthur Cordell
Sent: May-07-12 8:41 PM
To: 'RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, EDUCATION';
[email protected]
Subject: [Ottawadissenters] RE: [Futurework] Meeting on social rights issues
http://www3.sympatico.ca/francislerner/
BASIC INCOME/Canada
Note that Sally Lerner who co-hosts FW is a major force in the basic income
discussions in Canada and abroad.
Arthur
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Ed Weick
Sent: Monday, May 07, 2012 7:56 PM
To: 'RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, EDUCATION';
[email protected]
Subject: [Futurework] Meeting on social rights issues
I attended a meeting this morning that dealt with whether issues such as
access to food and housing are human rights. The speakers, Leilani Farha of
the Centre for Equality Rights in Accomodation and Bruce Porter of the Social
Rights Advocacy Centre, argued very strongly that food and housing were indeed
human rights and should be recognized as such. They were followed by a
strongly argued presentation by Senator Hugh Segal (Canadian, not American,
Senate) on the need for a Guaranteed Annual Income, which, he argued, could
easily be provided via the income tax system. If we had a GAI, Segal argued,
we wouldn't have to worry about public housing, food banks, etc.
All very well, but if it made that much sense and could readily be
implemented, why hasn't it been done? There wasn't time to ask him that,
however, because he had to dash back to Parliament Hill. Segal is a
Conservative, though appointed by Paul Martin, a Liberal Prime Minister, not
Stephen Harper, the current Conservative P.M. He does, however, carry a lot of
political weight, so why isn't he pushing very hard instead of just making
speeches? Maybe he is, but we can't know it because of the fog surrounding our
government.
Ed
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