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There is also a profound social value to having a basic income for all people. With the infamous Rat Park study, psychologists learned that the roots of drug addiction and other symptoms of a torn social fabric have less to do with the presence of vice than the void vice can fill. Happy people who experience less trauma and feel confident in themselves and their surroundings make better decisions for themselves and their neighbours. They invest in their communities. A strong social safety net makes for a strong society overall.

“It is in fact the precinct of rational people when looking to encourage work and community engagement and give people a floor beneath which they’re not allowed to fall,” political strategist and former Conservative senator Hugh Segal, who’s tasked with investigating the idea for Canada, told The Guardian newspaper.

And the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives has said, on the subject, “everyone deserves a path out of poverty; a life of dignity; everyone benefits from greater equality; and while paid labour can be incredibly gratifying for some, it is not the answer for everyone.”

As the debate over “Canadian values” looms, it’s important to recognize that projects like these are part of those Canadian values, too. Bold experimentation, securing the social fabric, investing in the dignity and viability of individual Canadians regardless of their race or gender or creed: this is the Canadian project.

While the rest of the world appears to be tearing itself apart, Canada has engaged in the occasionally difficult but always rewarding work of knitting itself more tightly together. That’s something to celebrate, and something to be proud of.

Madeline Ashby is a strategic foresight consultant and novelist living in Toronto. Find her at madelineashby.com or on Twitter @MadelineAshby.