“This will cost too much and we can’t afford it,” said Timms.

St. Catharines Coun. Andy Petrowski, saying it would cost billions of dollars for such a plan, asked Barron if she’d be in favour of requiring people receiving the guaranteed income to fill farm labour jobs in Niagara currently filled by offshore workers.

“Work, I was taught by my parents, helps to dignify,” he said.

But Barron, who works at Bridges Community Health in Fort Erie, said pilot projects on such plans have shown it’s not a disincentive against working.

“Some feel it’s a recipe for laziness,” she said. “This outlook perpetuates the belief that poverty is the failings of the individual when we know that is not the case.”

Barron said the income plan could in large part pay for itself and provide an economic boost by supporting entrepreneurship and reducing the social problems associated with poverty such as higher health care costs, justice system costs, domestic violence and family breakdowns, and lost days at school.

A landmark 2012 report by Brock University’s Niagara Community Observatory, in partnership with the Niagara Workforce Planning Board and the Niagara Research and Planning Council, pegged the cost of poverty in Niagara at a staggering $1.38 billion a year.

That’s due to a variety of costs, such as health care costs and crime, social transfers such as welfare, unemployment insurance and housing and homelessness funding, and the private cost to people living in poverty — along with lost potential taxes due to low incomes.

Barron said that jarring figure shows the wisdom of combating poverty with a guaranteed income.

“It begs the question: if we are paying for poverty, why not pay to prevent it?” she said.

Niagara Falls Coun. Selina Volpatti said the plan is a “wonderful step forward. This…leads to greater respect for everyone in our community.”

A recommendation for the topic to be referred to a regional committee for a staff report on the concept failed, and council supported the Kingston proposal.

Pelham Mayor Dave Augustyn paraphrased Senator Hugh Segal, who at a speech in Niagara a couple of years ago pitched the idea of topping up the income of everyone who is beneath the poverty line.

“This is something that could really be a game-changer across the country,” said Augustyn.

Thorold Coun. Henry D’Angela said by supporting the Kingston motion, the Region is helping to spark debate on the need for the plan.

“We’re really opening the door for some discussion at the federal and provincial level,” he said.

Melenie Neamtz vice-chair of the poverty reduction network, said the income plan could finally eradicate stubborn poverty.

“Our vision is that all Niagara residents live above the poverty line,” she said.