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By Brian Lee Crowley and Sean Speer

The Ford government’s cancellation of its predecessor’s basic income pilot program has generated a lot of consternation. Social activists, academics, opposition politicians and even a few Conservatives have lamented the ending of the experiment with unconditional cash transfers.

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We respectfully disagree. The basic income model is deeply flawed. Queen’s Park was right to kill it.

A quick primer for readers: A basic income essentially proposes to replace the current labyrinth of government-provided income support programs with a single cash transfer to individuals or families — without any conditions such as requiring recipients to seek work — in order to ensure a minimum level of income.

The idea has been around for decades but has recently attracted interest due to concerns about “precarious work,” those “left behind” by trade and globalization, and the effects of automation and artificial intelligence on the “future of work.” The Ontario government’s pilot program was certainly promoted along these lines.