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Money for nothing?

Local leaders say Windsor-Essex is the perfect place for Ontario or Ottawa to test a guaranteed annual income system.

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Both Mayor Drew Dilkens and Essex County Warden Tom Bain told the Star they’re onside when it comes to using the local population as guinea pigs for a radical proposal to combat poverty by paying everyone a basic monthly income — replacing the current patchwork of social assistance programs.

“We’re just seeing the rates of poverty increase … this may be the way to go,” said Dilkens.

“Certainly, it would be worth a try — I’m more than willing to talk to Mayor Dilkens about this,” said Bain.

No sooner had the provincial Liberals announced in their 2016 budget a pilot project to test a basic income program than Windsor-Tecumseh MPP Percy Hatfield began lobbying to have Windsor-Essex selected as the laboratory in which to examine how it might work. Hatfield said Community and Social Services Minister Helena Jaczek asked him Thursday whether the city’s mayor and county’s warden were onside.