QUESTION PERIOD — Employment and Social Development
Guaranteed Livable Income
December 13, 2023
My question is for Senator Gold, the Government Representative in the Senate.
Government-funded research so ably provided by our dear colleague Senator Pate has demonstrated that a guaranteed livable income could help those who are homeless find housing more quickly and save money for governments — and could do so without driving up rent. For those housed but struggling to make ends meet, guaranteed livable income cash transfers can mean not having to worry about losing everything.
The Government of Prince Edward Island has made a request to the Government of Canada, as have many municipalities, to examine the potential of a guaranteed livable income. Senator Gold, are you able to provide us with an idea of when Prince Edward Island and these municipalities might receive a response from the government concerning a guaranteed livable income?
Thank you very much. The issue of guaranteed livable income, and different versions of it, is something that has been much studied in academic circles, much debated in this place and worthy of continued study. It is an important issue, and it is regrettable that some of the pilot projects that had been under way were not completed in time — or, at least, were not continued long enough for the data to be as helpful as we would hope it would be.
I can’t answer your question about the Government of Canada’s response, but I would encourage municipalities, provinces — and, indeed, think tanks and this institution — to continue to look at this. It is an attractive approach to address poverty and the lack of dignity that so many people struggle with, but it is a complicated social policy issue, as we all know, and requires further study.
Thank you for that response, Senator Gold. I do appreciate that it is a very complicated proposal involving many Government of Canada departments. The issue I have is that Prince Edward Island has made a direct request. The Government of Yukon has a guaranteed livable income in their Putting People First Strategy.
Can you perhaps advise the chamber on who has been assigned as the government’s point person to respond?
I’ll certainly make inquiries as to the status of these requests, and I’d be pleased to do that. This is a program that will engage not only the federal government but, of course, territorial and provincial governments and, indeed, municipalities, if we are going to take a proper, comprehensive look at all the supports that we try to provide to people in need and how those might be affected by some new policy.
