Canada Is Considering Introducing Guaranteed Basic Income & Here's Who Could Get Money

UBI BY ANY OTHER NAME

 Provided by Narcity Canada

You might not know that Canada is considering a basic income program across the country to "benefit individuals, families and communities."

A lot of people could qualify for universal basic income in Canada and get money from the federal government if it's introduced.

Now that a bill requiring the federal government to develop a national framework for a guaranteed livable basic income could become law, here's what you need to know.

That includes what basic income would be, who would qualify for it and how much money a universal basic income could give out.

What is guaranteed livable basic income in Canada?

Bill S-233, which is also known as an act to develop a national framework for a guaranteed livable basic income, is a bill sponsored by Senator Kim Pate that's currently being considered in Canada's Senate.

It has stated that "every person should have access to a livable basic income" and a guaranteed basic income would help eradicate poverty in Canada and improve income equality, health and education.

"A guaranteed livable basic income would benefit individuals, families and communities and protect those who are made most vulnerable in society," according to the bill.

Also, Bill S-233 said that a national basic income program would "ensure the respect, dignity and security of all persons in Canada."

This bill that would get the ball rolling on introducing basic income across Canada has been moving through the Senate over the last few years.

Its first reading was completed on December 16, 2021, and its second reading was completed on April 18, 2023.

Then, on October 17, 2023, the Standing Senate Committee on National Finance studied Bill S-233.

The committee heard from experts including former Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, Dr. Evelyn Forget and Dr. Jiaying Zhao.

Pate and MP Leah Gazan, who sponsored a similar bill in the House of Commons, shared that all of the experts agreed now is the time to move forward with guaranteed livable basic income.

"Faced with increasing economic uncertainty, Canadians rightly expect their governments to both help individuals make ends meet and treat public money with care," said Pate and Gazan.

Both noted that guaranteed livable basic income has been tested in Canada already and it's "a meaningful solution promising a wealth of economic, social, and health benefits."

Once the Standing Senate Committee on National Finance's study of Bill S-233 is complete, committee members and all Senators will be able to vote to send the bill to the House of Commons.

Then, it could become law following a review in the House.

Who would qualify for universal basic income in Canada?

If Bill S-233 becomes a law, it would require the minister of finance — who is currently Chrystia Freeland — to develop a national framework for the implementation of a guaranteed livable basic income program throughout Canada.

Any person over 17 years old, including temporary workers, permanent residents and refugee claimants, would qualify for universal basic income in Canada.

The framework developed by the minister of finance would have to include several measures laid out in the bill.

That includes measures to determine what constitutes a livable basic income for each region in Canada.

It would have to take into account the goods and services that are necessary for people to have "a dignified and healthy life" and the cost of those goods and services.

National standards for health and social supports that complement a guaranteed basic income program and guide the implementation of such a program in every province would be required as well.

The framework would need to ensure that having an education or training or participation in the labour market is not required for people in Canada to qualify for a guaranteed livable basic income.

Also, it must ensure that the implementation of a guaranteed livable basic income program doesn't decrease services or benefits that are meant to support someone's needs related to health or disability.

What would be Canada's guaranteed basic income amount?

Back in 2021, the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer put out a report on the fiscal analysis of a national guaranteed basic income program in Canada.

To figure out how a basic income program could work financially, the report from the Parliamentary Budget Officer used Ontario's basic income pilot project from 2017 as a framework.

It also limited the analysis of the potential program to Canadians who are between 18 and 64 years old.

Ontario's basic income project ensured that people received up to 75% of the low-income measure which was estimated at $16,989 for a single person and $24,027 for a couple.

Individuals with a disability also received an additional universal amount of $6,000 a year.

The guaranteed basic income was reduced as an individual received more employment earnings at a rate of $0.50 for every dollar made.

According to the report from the Parliamentary Budget Officer, households that have one adult with children could see a change in average household disposable income of 12.3% — which is $4,210 — if a national guaranteed basic income program was introduced.

For households with two or more adults and children, that income would go up by 31.6% which works out to $13,797.

Single adults would see a 32.1% change in average household disposable income. That's an increase of $5,453.

In households with two or more adults, it would be a 64.5% change which works out to $17,057.

The report found that more than six million people (16.4% of Canada's population) would see a rise in their disposable income because of guaranteed basic income.

That would work out to a net positive impact of $8,227 — 49.6%.

But, according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer, over 16 million people would have a net income loss of $3,114 — -5.4% — on average.

Despite that, guaranteed basic income "significantly reduces poverty rates" across Canada, cutting it almost in half at a national level.

The report found that the poverty rates would be reduced by 40.2% in B.C., 43.7% in Alberta, 49.2% in Saskatchewan, 61.9% in Manitoba and 49.2% in Ontario.

Also, rates would go down by 60.4% in Quebec, 32.6% in New Brunswick, 55% in Nova Scotia, 45% in P.E.I., and 13.5% in Newfoundland and Labrador if a basic income program was introduced.

Even though the Parliamentary Budget Officer's report used Ontario's $16,989 to $24,027 payments as a framework, the exact basic income amounts should the program be implemented are still unknown.

Bill S-233 would require the minister of finance to determine what a livable basic income is for each region in Canada so how much money people get could vary depending on where they live.

This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.

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Mysterious 128-year-old shipwreck found in search for underwater 'aliens'

Story by Katherine Fidler  • METRO UK

A filmmaker husband and wife team searching for an underwater invasive alien species in Canada found something rather more unexpected – a shipwreck lost for 128 years.

Yvonne Drebert and Zach Melnick have been studying North America’s Great Lakes and the dramatic effect quagga mussels have had on the natural wonders.

While the couple were searching for them, scientists working in the same area 

tipped them off about an unusual bump spotted on the bottom of Lake Huron 

spotted on sonar readings.

The couple set off to investigate, and out of the depths emerged the Africa, a ship lost in 1895.

‘Armed with the location of the anomaly from the fisheries scientists, we packed up our robot, grabbed some friends and their dog, and headed out on what we thought would be a fun Saturday boat ride,’ said Ms Drebert. ‘We honestly expected to find a pile of rocks.’

The couple piloted their remotely operated vehicle (ROV) from a control station aboard their boat, guiding it down 280 feet to the lakebed below.

The Africa emerges from the depths (Picture: Inspired Planet)© Provided by Metro

‘We were down for only a few minutes when a huge structure loomed up from the depths – it was a shipwreck,’ said Ms Drebert. ‘We couldn’t believe it.’

Local maritime historian Patrikc Folkes and marine archaeologist Scarlett Janusas were enlisted to help identify the ship, and based on their research – alongside the team’s film and measurements of the vessel – they believe it is the Africa.

The wreck is completely covered in the mussels (Picture: Inspired Planet)© Provided by Metro

Built in 1873 to carry passengers and freight, the 148ft-long Africa set out for its final journey from Ohio to Ontario on October 4, 1895.

The ship was towing the barge Severn when an early season snowstorm hit Lake Huron. The towline was cut, leaving the Severn to run aground, but the Africa sank, costing the lives of all 11 crew.

And while the search for quagga mussels helped find the ship, they will also ultimately destroy it.

The ship sank during a snowstorm, claiming the lives of all 11 crew 

(Picture: Inspired Planet)© Provided by Metro

The mussels originate from the Black and Caspian Seas of Eastern Europe. Although typically small, averaging the size of a fingernail, they are prolific breeders and spread rapidly across their habitat.

They are believed to have spread around the world in water discharged from transoceanic ships, having first been spotted in the Great Lakes in 1989.

Related video: #TheMoment 2 filmmakers discovered a 128-year-old shipwreck (cbc.ca)   Duration 1:21    View on Watch

The mussels filter vast amounts of water, increasing visibility in the lakes and making the Africa easier to spot. 

However, the vessel is now completely entombed in them. Eventually the sheer weight of the mussels will cause it to collapse. They also produce an acid that can corrode even the metal elements of the vessel. the mussels means it is easier to see the ship than before they arrived (Picture: Inspired Planet)© Provided by Metro

‘The quaggas are the reason we’re able to see the shipwreck in almost 300 feet of water without any additional lights.

‘But they’re also responsible for making wreck identification in the Great Lakes incredibly difficult.’

It is not just shipwrecks that the mussels are damaging. The extensive filtering of the water removes essential phytoplankton that support the entire food chain, upsetting delicate ecosystems. The clearer water also allows sunlight to penetrate further than it would naturally, which can also have detrimental effects.

The mussels also produce an acid that can corrode the ship’s metalwork 

(Picture: Inspired Planet)© Provided by Metro

‘Before discovering the Africa, our work focused on the ecological impacts of the mussels – which have devastated fisheries around the lakes,’ said Mr Melnick.

‘We hadn’t considered the effect they could have on our cultural heritage, but the mussels have truly changed everything in the deep waters of the Great Lakes.’

Invasive alien species – those transported from their natural habitats to new areas, either deliberately or by accident – are one of the greatest contributors to the current ecological crisis.

When released into a new environment, they can cause irreversible damage, threatening the landscape and other species, often leading to extinction.

One of the best – or worst – examples of deliberate translocation of species is the release of cane toads in Australia. 

The Australian cane toad population has exploded

 (Picture: Getty)© Provided by Metro

In 1935, 2,400 toads were imported from Hawaii to northern Queensland to help solve the problem of cane beetles destroying crops.

Unfortunately, the beetles lived too high up the crop for the toads to reach, while the larvae that do greater damage to crops live in the soil, eating the roots. 

Basically, the toads were useless at controlling the pests – but even worse at controlling themselves. From those original 2,400 toads, there are now an estimated 200 million.

That’s about the same number of rabbits also introduced to Australia, which have destroyed the landscape with their voracious grazing.

The country’s ‘most devastating invasion’ began with just 24 of the fluffy creatures.

Canada Growth Fund invests $90M in Calgary geothermal company

FRACKING BY ANY OTHER NAME

 The Canadian Press

CALGARY — A geothermal energy company is the first recipient of funding from the Canada Growth Fund, the federal government's new $15-billion arm's-length public investment vehicle.

Calgary-based Eavor Technologies Inc. has developed a proprietary closed-loop geothermal system that the company says can be used to produce clean, reliable baseload heat and power.

The Canada Growth Fund has committed $90 million of Series B preferred equity in the company, to help Eavor grow its business while retaining intellectual property and creating jobs in Canada.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland announced the creation of the Canada Growth Fund in the 2023 federal budget.

The fund is meant to help Canada’s economy transform and grow on the path to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. Its mandate is to invest in Canadian clean technology businesses that are developing technologies at the commercialization stage.

One of the goals of the fund is to help bridge the liquidity gap in the Canadian clean technology market, offering support to companies at the critical stage of commercialization and development.

The Public Sector Pension Investment Board, is one of Canada's largest pension investment managers, has been chosen to act as investment manager of the fund. It will do so through a wholly owned subsidiary, Canada Growth Fund Investment Management Inc.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 25, 2023.

The Canadian Press

NHL

League withdraws ban on Pride Tape use

The NHL is withdrawing their decision to ban the use of Pride Tape after the NHL, NHLPA, and NHL Player Inclusion Coalition came to an agreement to lift the ban on Tuesday.

“After consultation with the NHL Players’ Association and the NHL Player Inclusion Coalition, players will now have the opportunity to voluntarily represent social causes with their stick tape throughout the season,” the NHL said in a statement released on Tuesday.

This revoke of the ban could be thanks to Arizona Coyotes defenceman Travis Dermott, who proved that it only takes one person to make a difference. During the Coyotes’ game against the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday Dermott flashed glimpses of Pride Tape wrapped around the top of his stick, he figures that finding the right game plan to attack the issue with it could have a positive impact on some people who needed it.

“It’s easy to forget that it’s a battle if it’s not in front of you,” Dermott told The Athletic’s Chris Johnston.

“If you don’t see it every day, if it’s swept under the rug, if it’s just hidden from the naked eye, it’s easy to forget that there’s a group of people that don’t feel like they belong because the majority of people do feel like they belong.”

Back in June, the NHL announced they decided to remove theme nights or represent any special jerseys that marked the NHL’s support for a variety of groups. Although they received backlash on the decision they continued to disappoint the hockey community by banning the use of the iconic rainbow-coloured tape, solely based off the idea that they did not want any players to be put in a tough spot if they chose not to participate.

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The lifting of the NHL’s ban is hopefully a way of moving forward in the NHL’s goals of becoming more inclusive, and Dermott emphasizes an important message.

“As athletes, we have such a great platform to spread love, and I think if we’re not spreading that love then what the hell are we doing?”

Scholastic reverses decision to make books on race and LGBTQ issues optional at elementary school book fairs

Story by By Chandelis Duster, CNN  • 

 Scholastic has reversed a decision to allow school districts to opt out of offering a wide range of diverse books, including those that discuss subjects like racism and LGBTQ issues, at its elementary school book fairs, the book publisher said Wednesday.

The company offered a collection of 64 titles called “Share Every Story, Celebrate Every Voice,” that included “titles we support even as they are the most likely to be restricted,” a Scholastic spokesperson previously told CNN. 

The publisher said the move was in response to dozens of state laws and pending legislation targeting books across the United States and would have allowed districts to elect not to offer the collection at their annual book fairs.

But on Wednesday, Scholastic said it was working to “find a better way” to combat efforts to target and ban books.

The collection of books will remain available online and at Scholastic book fairs this fall, a spokesperson told CNN. But, the publisher said, it will not be offered in January 2024.

Scholastic said it would “keep in mind the needs of our educators facing local content restrictions and the children we serve.”

“We understand now that the separate nature of the collection has caused confusion and feelings of exclusion,” Scholastic said in a statement.

“It is unsettling that the current divisive landscape in the US is creating an environment that could deny any child access to books, or that teachers could be penalized for creating access to all stories for their students.”

The decision to offer diverse books in a separate collection faced widespread backlash online, including from poet Amanda Gorman, who said her book, “Change Sings,” was part of the collection.

“It honestly feels like a betrayal. As an elementary student, for weeks I’d save every single penny I had for the Scholastic Book Fair, because it felt like a safe place to explore and choose for myself what books I wanted to read, what stories I wanted to find representations of myself in,” Gorman wrote on social media last week.

“It was in part what made me want to write children’s books in the first place. I never thought that my work would be a #1 NYT best-seller, or that the very place that had inspired me would censor my words.”

In addition to Gorman’s work, the separate collection included titles addressing Black and Latino history, and the biographies of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, boxing legend Muhammad Ali and NBA superstar LeBron James, CNN previously reported.

CNN’s Nicole Chavez contributed to this report.

Rishi Sunak first world leader to say AI poses threat to humanity

Story by Martyn Landi and Katherine Fidler • METRO UK

Rishi Sunak has said the threat of AI should be a global priority

 (Picture: Peter Nicholls/Getty)© Provided by Metro

Rishi Sunak has said mitigating the risk of extinction because of artificial intelligence (AI) should be a global priority alongside pandemics and nuclear war.

The prime minister said he wanted to be ‘honest’ with the public about the risks of AI, as he made a speech on the emerging technology.

As the government published new assessments on AI, Mr Sunak said they offered a ‘stark warning’.

‘Get this wrong and it could make it easier to build chemical or biological weapons,’ he said.

‘Terrorist groups could use AI to spread fear and disruption on an even greater scale.

‘Criminals could exploit AI for cyber attacks, disinformation, fraud or even child sexual abuse.

‘And in the most unlikely but extreme cases, there is even the risk that humanity could lose control of AI completely through the kind of AI sometimes referred to as “super intelligence”.’


Criminals could use AI for more sophisticated cyber attacks, the prime minister warned (Picture: Getty)© Provided by Metro

Mr Sunak is not the first world leader to warn over the threats posed by AI, but went a step further in likening it to that posed by other ‘exinction-level events’,

He said: ‘Indeed, to quote the statement made earlier this year by hundreds of the world’s leading AI experts, mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority, alongside other societal scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war.’

One of signatories, the ‘godfather of AI’ Geoffrey Hinton, quit his job at Google earlier this year while warning of the dangers posed by the technology – adding that part of him now regretted his life’s work.



Dr Geoffrey Hinton has warned repeatedly of the dangers of AI (Picture: Getty)© Provided by Metro

However, Mr Sunak added that it was ‘not a risk that people need to be losing sleep over right now’ and he did not want to be ‘alarmist’.

The issue of AI and its potential capabilities was thrown into sharp focus last November following the public release of ChatGPT, a large language model (LLM) with outstanding capabilities, including writing content indistinguishable from human work and creating computer code within seconds.

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Since its release others have followed, while generative AI image creators have also proliferated, allowing users to create pictures from a simple text prompt.

A report yesterday from the Internet Watch Foundation warned users on the dark web were using these to create child sexual abuse images.

Next week the government will host an AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park, bringing together world leaders, tech firms and civil society to discuss the emerging technology.

Ahead of the summit, Mr Sunak announced the government would establish the ‘world’s first’ AI safety institute, which the prime minister said would ‘carefully examine, evaluate and test new types of AI to understand what each new model is capable of’ and ‘explore all the risks’.

He said tech firms had already trusted the UK with privileged access to their models, making Britain ‘well placed’ to create the world’s first AI safety institute.

The prime minister said the government would use next week’s summit to push for a first international statement about the nature of AI risks, and said leaders should follow the example of global collaboration around climate change and establish a global expert panel on the issue.

But Mr Sunak said the government would not ‘rush to regulate’ AI, although he added that countries should not rely on private firms ‘marking their own homework’.


Bletchley Park, home of the Enigma machine that helped win the Second World War (Picture: Getty)© Provided by Metro

‘Only governments can properly assess the risks of national security,’ he said.

He also defended the decision to invite China to the AI Safety Summit, arguing there can be ‘no serious strategy for AI without at least trying to engage all of the world’s leading AI powers’.

‘That might not have been the easy thing to do but it was the right thing to do,’ he said.

Ahead of the prime minister’s speech, the government published several discussion papers showing its evaluation of the risk of AI, which suggested that there were new opportunities for growth and advances, but also a range of ‘new dangers’.

The papers said there is insufficient evidence to rule out a threat to humanity from AI and that it is hard to predict many of the risks because of the broad range of potential uses in the future.

It adds that the current lack of safety standards is a key issue, and warns that AI could be used to carry out more advanced cyber attacks and develop bioweapons.

It also warns that human workers could be displaced by AI and both misinformation and disinformation could be spread more easily, and potentially influence future elections.

In defence of Bill C-282: Canada's supply management supports farmers while safeguarding consumers

 Bruce Muirhead 
 
 Professor of History, Egg Farmers of Canada Chair in Public Policy, of Waterloo  Jodey Nurse, Faculty Lecturer, McGill Institute for the Study of Canada, McGill University  THE CONVERSATION

 The recent passage of Bill C-282, legislation that prevents Canadian trade negotiators from surrendering additional supply managed commodities — like eggs and dairy — in international trade negotiations, has reignited debates over Canada’s supply management system.

Canada’s supply management system is designed to align the production of dairy, eggs and poultry with domestic consumption through the judicious use of quotas and tariffs.

Critics of the bill argue it may hamstring our trade negotiators and raise food prices, claiming that Canada’s supply management system is designed to “constrain supply, strangle competition with tariffs and keep prices high” by limiting dairy, eggs and poultry imports from the United States.

However, there is no evidence to support these claims. This kind of criticism relies on outdated beliefs in the sanctity of the so-called free market and its ability to produce cheap goods.

If Canada wishes to preserve domestic farms and enhance food security, officials must have limits on what they can give up to American and other foreign interests. We argue the current supply management model works to provide competitive prices to consumers, while also providing a living wage for farmers.

The Canadian model is working

If the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated anything over the past several years, it’s that local food production is necessary to ensure food security. Evidence suggests that the global food system has exacerbated environmental degradation and food insecurity while consolidating power in the hands of a select few global food corporations.

It’s clear we need to invest in local, community-based food sources — something supply management is able to facilitate by the nature of its operation. The supply management model is focused on supplying food to the Canadian market, with very limited opportunity for exports.

Under this model, dairy and eggs are generally marketed in the region in which they are produced — Ontario eggs are sold in Ontario supermarkets — thereby privileging the local.

Supply management also reflects some of the concepts common to the food sovereignty movement. Food sovereignty refers to the right for people to define their own food and agriculture systems and produce healthy and culturally appropriate food using ecologically sound and sustainable practices.

Food sovereignty puts community first, prioritizing local and regional food needs. Notably, Canada’s supply management system has been recognized as an important institution of food sovereignty by the National Farmers Union because of its defense of local food production.

Canada’s supply management system also contributes to rural sustainability. Smaller dairy (an average farm size of 88 milking cows) and egg (an average farm size of 23,000 laying hens) farms provide a stability on rural concession roads that is unmatched when they are adequately supported.

Supply-managed farms outshine their counterparts in the hog, beef and oilseeds/grains sectors by making more investments, creating more jobs and contributing more to the GDP per farm.

Fairer production

Canada’s current supply management model works well for both consumers and producers. Producers reap the rewards of a system that ensures farmers are paid fair prices for their products, covering the costs of production. Meanwhile, consumers enjoy the benefits of a stable supply of eggs, safeguarding them from significant price fluctuations.

Supply management is a legitimate tool for co-ordinating production with demand and avoiding overproduction and waste — two chronic issues that have plagued the United States and Europe, despite significant price supports, subsidies, government purchase programs and import restrictions.

In today’s economic landscape, ensuring food affordability is as critical as ever. Despite worldwide inflation, Canada had the second-lowest food inflation rate in the world at 8.9 per cent over the year from June 2022. This stands in contrast to the 19.6 per cent increase in the United Kingdom and the European Union, Hungary’s 45.1 per cent and Argentina’s staggering 95 per cent.

Farmer wages

The connection between fair farmer incomes and food sustainability and sovereignty must be emphasized.

If food producers can’t make a living, they will leave the industry and cause catastrophic consequences. This is already happening in some places. In the U.K., rising production costs and lower farm prices are forcing farmers out of the industry and jeopardizing the U.K.’s self-sufficiency in the dairy sector.

In Australia, farmers are leaving dairy by the thousands because of price crashes. Meanwhile, in New Zealand, the world’s largest exporter of dairy, the livelihoods of dairy farmers remain precarious. Egg prices in New Zealand increased year-over-year by 75 per cent in June.

Even in the U.S., the story is similar. Rapidly rising input costs like fuel, insurance, feed prices and labour costs, combined with stagnant or lower milk prices, have led farmers to depart that industry.

As supermarkets, middlemen and global food corporations pay farmers less and input costs go up, this situation has been aptly called “a cost of farming crisis.”

Deregulation threatens sustainability

The recent passage of Bill C-282, and the discussion of the bill in the Senate, presents an opportunity to reflect on the importance of food systems that serve to enhance Canadian food sustainability, security and sovereignty. As the earlier international examples make clear, deregulation in dairy farming has not led to vibrant, sustainable industries, but quite the opposite.

Further proof is highlighted by food policy analysts in the U.S. who are calling on the government to reform dairy policies they argue have caused “devastating farmer loss and hardship, and a worsening environmental outlook.”

A recent Food and Water Watch report illustrates how U.S. dairy policies centred around export markets have hurt family-sized farms by slashing on-farm profits, encouraging extreme industry consolidation and increasing environmental degradation and exploitative practices of resources.

Bill C-282 attempts to protect a domestic system that rejects this model. Policymakers and all Canadians should work to support systems that allow for valuable food industries to flourish, rather than dismantle them.

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts.

Read more:

• Canada’s disappearing ‘average farmer’ means one-size-fits-all policies no longer work
• Growing farmland inequality in the Prairies poses problems for all Canadians

Bruce Muirhead receives funding from Egg Farmers of Canada.

Jodey Nurse has received funding from Egg Farmers of Canada in the past. Her current work is not funded by them.