Good for Bill Roberts to bring up the possibility of a universal income and he is right that it will take courage (The Picton Gazette, April 9, 2020, Time draws nigh for universal basic income implementation).

We tried a pilot project in Ontario but it was cancelled (politics).

A guaranteed annual income would be the most effective way to eliminate poverty.

Welfare programs have too many rules and are overstaffed by people who police how people are living rather than helping them get out of poverty.  If you did work while on welfare, the money earned would be clawed back becoming a disincentive to find work.

Ontario now spends nearly 20 billion dollars on welfare. In 2020 no Canadian resident’s income should fall beneath a certain basic amount that they need to live with some measure of dignity and self respect.

I would bet over half of the people living below the poverty line have jobs-probably two. Poverty is a cause for poor health, substance abuse, family violence and poor education.

Thanks Bill for bringing up this important issue and how quickly governments acted on the COVID-19 crisis. Hopefully the issue can go from a councillor at the entry level of politics to provincial governments and on to Ottawa

Paul Boyd

Rednersville