Article content continued

The pilot offered a single person an income of $16,989 a year, nearly 60 per cent higher than the figure the Liberals had already deemed too expensive. Clearly, a basic income was never going to be affordable, and that’s why the PCs have scrapped the project. A senior government official says a basic income program would cost $17 billion a year more than what Ontario spends now.

The Ontario government can’t afford a living income for all those who require it. The solution is to make it easier for people to find work and to allow them to keep more of the proceeds of work.

Ontario’s higher minimum wage ought to be enough to entice people off welfare and into the workforce. As a society, we need them to make that choice because Ontario’s low unemployment and limited population growth tells us that workers will be harder and harder to find. One of the tests of the new PC plan will be how effectively it builds bridges between people on social assistance and potential employers.

For years, Ontario had perverse disincentives to move to employment, requiring people to be nearly broke before they were eligible for help and clawing back employment income at the rate of 50 cents on the dollar.

Fortunately for the PCs, the Liberals worked out a series of smart changes that would eliminate most of those disincentives. Unfortunately for people who would benefit, the PCs have placed those plans on hold.

Phased in over three years, those changes include eliminating limits on how much people can have in Tax Free Savings Accounts and RRSPs; raising limits on cash they are allowed to have; allowing monthly earnings of $400 before the clawback kicks in; further raising the amount of clawback-free earnings to $6,000 a year; and including non-work income such as Canada Pension Plan disability payments.

These changes will encourage people on social assistance to work more and be more financially independent. Given that Ontario’s social assistance amounts are more like a supplement than a living, that makes sense.

If the PCs keep these changes, they will have done the right thing. In the meantime, it’s fair to credit them with good intentions and see what they produce.

Randall Denley is an Ottawa commentator and former Ontario PC candidate. Contact him at randalldenley1@gmail.com