Tracey Crosson says she ate healthier, slept better and had more energy when she was receiving basic income payments from the Ontario government.
Now, she’s left with $22 every month after paying rent and relies on Meals on Wheels.
Crosson is just one of the thousands of people impacted after the province scrapped the basic income pilot project (OBI) nearly six years ago. The early cancellation of the program in 2018 is behind a class-action lawsuit that was certified by a Superior Court judge on March 4.
“When I was on the OBI, I got to go and get a steak for $10 and have that for dinner once a month,” said Crosson, who participated in the program in Thunder Bay and now lives in Toronto for better access to medical care. “Now, I don’t have the luxury for steak and hamburger and all that stuff.”
They’re OK with the government paying for the poor, so long as the government is paying them for the poor.
Private prisons. HMOs and private hospitals. Company towns. Privatized services.
The problem with basic income is that it keeps the power to choose in the hands of the person. They’d be all too happy to have the government foot the bill directly for things, with the rider that they’re the one’s being paid.
The issue is always one of control. Money is just a medium for exercising that control. UBI puts control into the hands of the receiver – the poor, the unworthy.