Government cancels pilot project on guaranteed minimum income

The Progressive Conservatives in Ontario have opened new Twitter and Facebook accounts under the name Ontario News Now. This is not a new news media, but a publicly funded caucus advertising tool.

Minister of Children’s Services and Community and Social Services Lisa MacLeod announced Tuesday the phasing out of the Ontario Basic Income Pilot Project.

At a press conference at Queen’s Park, she said the initiative is costing too much and is not sustainable in the long run.

Nearly 4,000 people are enrolled in Thunder Bay, Lindsay, Hamilton, Brantford and Brant County.

Launched in April 2017, it was to last three years and assess the effectiveness of a basic income paid to people with very low incomes.

Under a tax credit model, the pilot project allowed participants to earn up to $16,989 a year for a single person and up to $24,027 a year for a couple, less 50% of any income received. People with disabilities received an extra $500 a month.

Lisa MacLeod also announced Tuesday a 1.5% increase for Ontario Works recipients and those of the Ontario Disability Support Program in place of the 3% increase promised by the previous Liberal government in Ontario. his last budget.

The minister said that the Liberal measures in the welfare program were for political purposes and not for helping people.

We must act and not just let people simply get bogged down in poverty , she said.

We will suspend the previous government’s disparate system of measures and replace it with a system that helps stabilize those in need and help them succeed , she added.

Lisa MacLeod gave herself 100 days to develop and present welfare reform to Ontarians.

The official opposition criticizes
Ontario New Democrat Leader (NDP) Andrea Horwath deplores the changes announced by Minister MacLeod.

Doug Ford’s decision to limit the planned increase to social assistance will hurt Ontarians. This decision is likely to push more people into poverty.

Andrea Horwath, Leader of the NDP

She calls these changes loathsome.

The Ontario Liberal Party is also critical of the end of the pilot project on basic income.

Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner also believes that these changes will hurt low-income Ontarians.

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