CANADA: Manitoba Liberals Vow to Try Basic Income if Elected

Rana Bokhari, leader of the Liberal party in the Canadian province of Manitoba, has come out publicly to say that the party will conduct two basic income pilot projects if they are elected in April 2016.

Their proposed projects bear some similarities to the “Mincome” experiment undertaken in Dauphin and Winnipeg (Manitoba) in the 1970’s. The Mincome experiment, however, was cut short when a new government was elected in 1979, and a final report was never issued. Moreover, the Manitoba liberals believe that those results that were recorded from the Dauphin experiment are now dated, and new data are needed to make accurate policy decisions.

Bokhari has stated that introducing a guaranteed income has potential to be cost-effective and beneficial. Although she acknowledges that the plan has complications, she believes that its potential payoffs make it well worth trying. As she says, “If we want to reduce poverty, if we want to take care of those who are most vulnerable in our society, we need to start taking a much more aggressive approach.”

Indeed, Bokhari believes that the basic income pilots would give Manitoba the opportunity to position itself at the vanguard of an important global movement, stating “Manitoba can and should lead the country and the world in this area.”

For more on this topic, see:

Larry Kusch, “Liberals would launch two projects to study guaranteed minimum income,” Winnipeg Free Press. January 15, 2016

No Author, “Manitoba Liberals to Pilot Minimum Income Project if Elected,” CBC News. January 15, 2016