CALGARY—If the root of poverty is money, there’s a Calgary group pushing to alleviate that constant worry.

Guaranteed income isn’t a new concept, but thanks to a grassroots group in Calgary, the movement is picking up steam in the West.

A group calling itself Basic Income Calgary (BIC) has started a municipal and provincial campaign aimed at encouraging governments to replace what we think of as “welfare” with a more progressive model it believes would lift up Canadians in poverty.

“Ultimately, we want our provincial government to collaborate with the federal government to design and implement a guaranteed annual income,” said Yvonne Stanford, co-chair of BIC.

The group is part of a national push for guaranteed annual incomes, similar to the Basic Income Canada Network.

Locally, the group would like to see a model that allows individuals below a certain income level to access cash on a regular basis so that they can thrive in society and not just scrape by. The group is asking that social support systems remain intact and that basic income doesn’t replace existing programs.

“This is about income, not about services,” Stanford said.

Brian Dodd, the group’s other co-chair, said for the past 40 years, the poverty fight hasn’t budged enough, so this model is a way of looking at the problem from another angle.

“Just make sure people have enough income so that they can live a decent life,” he said. “That reduces poverty and empowers (people), but also has some other positive impacts.”

He said when people have the means to thrive, they can eat better, aren’t as stressed, have fewer health issues and crime rates go down — which, in turn, can help reduce how much governments spend dealing with those societal issues.

While Dodd and Stanford help lead the push in Calgary, the concept has been picking up steam across the country.

In 2015, Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi and Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson both came out in support of some sort of basic income guarantee.

But there’s been no movement on the file since because it is a provincial issue, according to the mayor’s office.

Councillor Evan Woolley said conversations around basic income are coming to the forefront and municipalities need to participate in the conversation.

“We’re seeing some of the biggest companies around the world beginning to advocate this from the private sector, we’re seeing provincial and national governments who would be the primary deliverers of such a program become more interested,” said Woolley. “We need to, as a city, get a better understanding of what the implications would be on our own budgets.”

Provincially, Minister of Community and Social Services Irfan Sabir provided a written statement. When asked about whether or not the government was looking into a universal income program, he pointed to services the government already provides, but did not clear up whether or not the NDP is looking at any such income program.

“We took aggressive action to ensure supports were delivered to Albertans through one of the worst recessions this province has seen and we will continue to be on the side of everyday Albertans,” he wrote. “We are making life better and affordable by creating new child benefits, increasing the minimum wage, freezing tuition and by investing in a strong health-care system, education and public services.”

Ontario has a pilot underway for it own basic income model. Announced in April 2017, the initiative in four cities and seven municipalities is supporting 4,000 people with a minimum level of income.

To compare results, the Ontario government has also selected 2,000 participants who won’t be supported with basic income. Like the group getting basic income, they will be tested on how they fare in the areas of food security, mental health, health-care usage and other basic needs measurements.

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Stanford hopes by the time the political will is on her movement’s side, there won’t be a need for pilot programs and Canada can instead move on to build and implement the income model.

But in the meantime, Basic Income Calgary is working to raise the profile of universal income municipally, provincially, and in Calgary.

The group is hosting a quarterly networking meeting on June 19 at the Hillhurst Sunnyside Community Association centre to update anyone who is interested in the movement.

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