COMMENTARY: A generational investment

A basic income guarantee is coming. One day we will wonder how we ever accepted a society without it. How was it that some people were denied the basics for a dignified life, while others were allowed to decimate our finite resources and amass exorbitant personal wealth? The moment of inevitability may come as a [...]

A basic income guarantee is coming. One day we will wonder how we ever accepted a society without it. How was it that some people were denied the basics for a dignified life, while others were allowed to decimate our finite resources and amass exorbitant personal wealth?

The moment of inevitability may come as a result of calamity: loss of human jobs to automation and artificial intelligence, economic collapse, climate chaos. But, if we act swiftly and together, basic income guarantee’s moment can arise from the hopeful, democratic will of the community. We can choose to act with kindness and compassion for the greater good.

Obligation to each other That is the moment we are working for: the moment we collectively recognize that we can live in a society whose first obligation is to each other. When unfettered wealth for the few doesn’t come at the expense of basic living for so many. When our social and economic priority is for our neighbours to have the income they require to meet their needs and build a life in health and dignity.

Our work in the world is first and always to care for each other in our fragile humanity, and that is not always, or even often, paid work. We must be ready for the moment BIG is inevitable. That means keeping the work and the knowledge of the people alive in the heart of community, even through times of challenge.

It feels like a time of challenge right now, because so much momentum for basic income guarantee feels stalled, just on the brink of possibility. After 10 years of all-party political consensus in P.E.I. and acceptance of recommendations from a special committee on poverty, national thinkers on BIG were led to develop an actionable, feasible, affordable model for a guaranteed basic income demonstration program. The proposed program would commence province-wide in P.E.I. and be scalable to all of Canada, a national program like Medicare, our public health-care program, which also began in one province, Saskatchewan.

A shared responsibility The BIG plan relies on P.E.I.’s strong voice to engage and encourage the federal government in a shared investment. Unfortunately, the provincial government is failing to meet the moment and is risking the momentum we have built together. Neither Premier Lantz’s government-wide mandate nor the departmental priorities published this spring in response identified basic income guarantee as a provincial priority.

The P.E.I. government should show leadership on a genuinely nation-building project. But at precisely the moment P.E.I. should be signalling persistence – and insistence – to the federal government, that falter in our elected voice sends the opposite message. Much discussion has centred on getting provincial spending under control.

Even in this time of fiscal constraint, basic income guarantee is an urgent investment. Debt and deficits are not our only obligations. We owe current and future generations a society where everyone can live with dignity, participate in our community, and contribute their talents.

The costs of poverty are paid many times over through poor health, low productivity and lost potential. Investing in people will leave future generations a freer, more humane society. In the end, our children will inherit the consequences of our choices – not our bond ratings, but our values.

Dedicated to Marie Burge This is the final commentary in a series coordinated by the P.E.I. Working Group for a Livable Income. We have met this particular moment we live in with op-eds to persuade, to build momentum, to keep the light on for the basic income movement. Yet, advocacy is never only about policy, and there is an extra purpose to this series.

As I write, our friend, mentor, and leader Marie Burge is in the last days of her life: a life of moral courage, vision, and inspiration for a world of love, compassion, and human dignity — a life that envisions basic income guarantee. This commentary series is our love letter to Marie, to express our deep care for her by showing her, in no uncertain terms, that we will continue to work to guarantee a basic income for all. We don’t do this work for the next generation, but across generations.

It is intergenerational work, to achieve a generational investment in people. It is the work of a lifetime. Dearest Marie, we so wanted to see a basic income guarantee in P.E.I. in your lifetime.

If only we had more time with you in this work, and with you in this world. Basic income guarantee is coming. We will keep up the vision and momentum: we will be ready.

Jane Ledwell of Charlottetown has been a member of the P.E.I. Working Group for a Livable Income for more than 20 years, most recently representing CreativePEI. This is the final article in a series by the working group.