Moncton Council Rallies Around Basic Income
MONCTON – A Moncton councillor whose bid to start a conversation about the skyrocketing costs of living received unanimous support from the rest of the city council says now is the time to push for a guaranteed, livable basic income.
At a September 20 council meeting, Councillor Charles Léger put forward a motion to write to federal and provincial politicians calling for collaborative work toward implementing a guaranteed livable basic income. In an interview with Huddle, he said his motion is the start of an important conversation that touches on the reality of inflationary and economic pressures that are leading to growing poverty and economic insecurity. Those factors, Léger said, “will be here to stay for a while.”
“We’re dealing with a lot of issues related to homelessness, a lack of affordable housing, and all of the social determinants really sort of lead us to seeing that what we’re doing really isn’t working,” Léger told Huddle.
He said council’s unanimous support shows that everyone realizes there needs to be a different approach.
“I think we have to look at different ways of making sure we don’t leave people behind. What I’ve seen more in the last three years was the effect of homelessness on our streets. People are accustomed to a certain lifestyle and security in how the economy has performed over the last number of years – but this is changing,” he added.
Léger said many, like those on fixed incomes, are particularly at risk thanks to the spiking living costs in the city, as well as the extra pressure exerted on institutions like food banks that normally help out marginalized and vulnerable people.
The driving forces of addictions, poverty, homelessness, and people being pushed into those situations by so-called renovictions are all significant in driving the need for a basic income program, Léger said. He said everyone else on council agrees because they are seeing the same dynamics play out in their wards.
Léger, who represents Ward 2, feels it’s important to speak up about the matter because his ward encompasses part of Moncton’s downtown where a growing number of people are experiencing homelessness.
“Because a large portion of our ward is in downtown, St. George Street, between here and Ward 1, we’ve certainly seen a lot of activity that, unfortunately, is very difficult to deal with,” he said. “From a municipality’s perspective, I felt it’s important because we are seeing the ramifications of a system that’s not working on a daily basis.”
Léger hopes Moncton’s stance on the matter will encourage other New Brunswick cities to start calling for steps toward a livable income, as well.
“I know Mayor Mike Savage of Halifax is very much a proponent of this and they are the largest city in Atlantic Canada,” he noted.
Timelines
Léger said he wouldn’t want to speculate on a timeline for significant movement on something as complex as a potential basic income program.
“It depends on whether the federal government sees this in their overall agenda. I know, from the city perspective, it begins when we get more and more traction through provincial cities’ associations and the federal municipalities group – that type of increasing voices,” he said.
A livable income program, if implemented, would likely only succeed if it was led by the federal government, with buy-in from the provinces, Léger said. He noted that New Brunswick is struggling to deal with rising poverty and an increasingly unwieldy cost of living.
He said the idea has been piloted numerous times, like in Finland in 2017 and 2018. But he noted the “extra push” for him was watching the success and how beneficial programs like the Canada Emergency Response Benefit and Canada Recovery Benefit were during the pandemic.
Léger said a similar framework, with adequate checks, balances, rules, and accountability could be the key to a better standard of living.
“Overall, by providing everyone with a standard of living, I think it will raise everything for everyone, so that we, as a society will function better,” he said.
“Making sure everyone has affordable housing and a living wage to help with difficult situations we’re seeing – those are things we’re striving for, and it’s important to do things a little differently.”
Sam Macdonald is a Huddle reporter in Moncton. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].