GUYSBOROUGH — In a move aimed at confronting high poverty levels and rising housing costs in local communities, the Municipality of the District of Guysborough (MODG) has endorsed a national guaranteed basic income and is urging the federal government to take action.
The decision, which will head to council’s regular meeting for a formal vote later this month, came at council’s July 2 committee of the whole meeting, where Warden Paul Long read the motion into the record:
“That MODG Council send a letter from the warden to the prime minister, ministers and the premier of Nova Scotia calling on the Government of Canada to implement a guaranteed livable basic income, ensuring that everyone has sufficient income to meet their needs, which goes a long way towards eradicating poverty and homelessness, [and] alleviating the pressure on municipalities [that] use their limited resources to fill the gaps in our failing social [systems].”
District 2 Councillor Mary Desmond moved the motion, while District 4 Councillor Dave Hanhams seconded.
In a follow-up interview with The Journal last week, Long said the measure dovetails with council’s recent funding commitments to local housing and transit groups. “When you tie these in with the basic income guarantee ... they’re all things that are hopefully going to help the everyday person survive a bit better ... A basic income guarantee that’s out there for people certainly helps everybody.”
As well as benefitting individuals directly, he said an income guarantee would also “help take some of the weight off municipalities. It allows [municipal employees] to have a better handle on the social determinants to health to … help to fill the poverty gap.”
Long credited community health boards for championing the idea. “They’ve been strong supporters of this over the past few years,” he said. “At a [recent] joint [council] meeting with [the Municipality of the District of] St Mary’s, Dorothy Bennett [Nova Scotia Health’s Community Health Board Coordinator for Guysborough County, Antigonish County and the Strait Richmond area] did a presentation… And there have been other presentations that have gone on since then.”
He added: “To say that the money isn’t there – federally, provincially, whatever – from a federal point of view, they are funding other programs. Maybe it’s just a matter of diverting something from one program to another. And then, perhaps, you don’t need as many welfare recipients and so on. I’m sure it’s not an easy thing to do, but it is doable.”
In an interview with The Journal, Community First Guysborough Housing Association spokesperson Nancy O’Regan hailed council’s decision to bring the issue to the “forefront.”
“I think that the municipality has shown interest in raising awareness and learning about basic income and what it could mean to the population of Guysborough, where we’ve got some pretty high poverty levels across all population groups – individuals, seniors, families with young children.”
She added: “Our needs assessment shows that we’ve got folks that are living in [need of] core housing, which means their income is too low for the home they’re in or renting. People are struggling, and they’re struggling with things like heat and power and utility bills and groceries. We know that poverty is a significant issue, and I am really pleased to see the municipality taking that step to bring it to the forefront.”
O’Regan noted that councillors attended a basic-income conference in Port Hawkesbury earlier this year: “That was really great, because I think they really got a sense of what it could do.”
The Municipality of the District of St. Mary’s made a similar call in May, when Warden James Fuller, writing on behalf of his council, asked Central Nova MP Sean Fraser for federal support for the concept, urging it to adopt a national basic income as a permanent measure to combat poverty and economic insecurity.
“The many reasons for a basic income are reflected in the breadth of support for it,” Fuller wrote. “Currently calls are coming from public health officers and tech entrepreneurs to Indigenous leaders, political leaders, major faith and youth organizations, and those working for gender equality, racial justice, food security, a more resilient economy, the environment, a stronger democracy, and more ... The goal of a Basic Income Guarantee is not to reward sloth, but to instead provide a sound foundation for personal growth and success. A goal for all Canadians.”
