© Jessie Golem – Humans of Basic Income
Basic Income Signs Now Available
May 2022
To order a Basic Income Now sign for your lawn, window, events or rallies, like the May 14 March in Toronto please email info@basicincomewr.ca and let us know if you would like to pick one up or have it delivered.
Price: A donation of up to $10 per sign would be appreciated but is not mandatory.
For folks residing outside of the Waterloo Region, please visit: https://www.basicincomenow.ca/lawn_sign
If you’d like to write to your MPP and riding candidates, see: https://www.basicincomenow.ca/push_your_on_candidates
A Guaranteed Basic Income Income Could Cut Costly Bureaucracy
April 26, 2022
An op-ed written by our BIWR member Carol Stalker was published in The Record. Check it out here.
Join the Province-Wide Day of Action for a Better Ontario this May Day
On May 1, 2022, join the province-wide day of action for a better Ontario hosted by the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL).
In Kitchener-Waterloo, the rally and carnival of resistance will be located at the Waterloo Region Courthouse (85 Frederick St. Kitchener) from 3 to 6pm.
May 1, or May Day, is the traditional workers’ holiday, a day that working people celebrate the gains they have won over the years and commit to fighting for a better future for everyone. It’s time for a $20 minimum wage, decent work, affordable housing, paid sick days, well-funded public services, livable income support for all, climate justice, status for all, and an end to racism and oppression. Join us!
For more information and a list of locations across Ontario visit: https://ofl.ca/event/may-1/
Tune In For a Discussion on Basic Income with the Mike Farwell Show
Tune in to CityNews 570 on Friday, April 29 at 10:05am to hear our Basic Income Waterloo member Carol Stalker discuss Basic Income with Mike Farwell, host of the Mike Farwell Show.
Waterloo Regional Basic Income Ridings Meet-Up
Join Us On: Apr 25, 2022 07:00 PM in Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Basic Income must be front and center during our province’s upcoming election in June. To make sure that your voices are heard, UBI Works and Basic Income Waterloo Region are organizing a Zoom Meet-up for your riding and others near you.
At this meeting you will:
• Connect with other Basic Income advocates and organizers in your riding and across Ontario.
• Learn about plans for the Basic Income Now campaign during the Ontario Election.
• Help get the word out by helping to organize lawn signs and rallies in key ridings.
To register for this free event, click here.
Get Basic Income Now ‘Swag’
The online Basic Income Now Merch Shop has launched! Get vibrant swag & gear including hoodies, t-shirts, stickers, and tote-bags. Order soon to shine at upcoming marches and events!
Don’t forget to share the Merch Shop with your members in your next newsletter, emails, and social media. You can use this link: basic-income-now.myshopify.com or this shorter link: tinyurl.com/Swag4BI.
To order Basic Income Now Signs for lawns, windows and rallies please email Andrew McCann at ajdmccann@gmail.com.
Petition to the Government of Canada
Sign this petition for a Guaranteed Livable Income in Canada: https://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/Sign/e-3856
Privatizing Health by Stealth
February 24, 2022
The current Ontario government will extend privatization further if re-elected.
Canadians have worked hard to obtain the social and health services we consider part of a just society. It is to our collective benefit to ensure the protection of our social and health services. Let your MPP know that you want this privatization of essential public services to stop. And remember this when you vote in June.
Check out the full article from The Hamilton Spectator here.
Watercourse Theatre’s Living Below the Line Project
Watercourse Theatre’s Living Below the Line is a great new project for individuals living below the poverty line in Waterloo Region.
To learn more please contact: Cate Frid or visit http://www.watercoursethreatre.com
UBI Works Toronto Basic Income March
What an amazing turnout for the Basic Income March organized by UBI Works in Toronto on September 18! Many more events are taking place across the globe this Saturday, September 25 in support of Basic Income.#basicincomenow#basicincomemarch
For more photos from this event: https://featherstonephotoandimaging.pixieset.com/ubiworks2021edited/f/16530570/?fbclid=IwAR3rcnaIr7PKGPofYGShQmcOsxibgA0hBlv_MmbcmAAROMGNBCij6rzaK5
Basic Income Now Lunch & Learn
September 16, 2021
Thank you to those who attended our lunch & learn and thank you to the panelists for presenting!
The video recording for this session can be found here on WRCLS’ Youtube page.
If you would like to download the Powerpoint slides, please find them here.
UBI Works – How would Basic Income transform your life?
September 15, 2021
How would Basic Income transform your life? Right answers only.
Watch the video on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=270608458249480
Canadians demand Basic Income because it is urgent, effective and affordable. Vote for #BasicIncomeNow by supporting candidates who will make it happen. 
Learn more about how you can push Basic Income this election: https://www.basicincomenow.ca.
Upcoming Event
thursday, september 16, 12-1:30 pm
virtual event
In partnership with Waterloo Region Community Legal Services, we will host a free lunch & learn workshop virtually with panelists Kristen Thompson, Caterina Lindman, Carol Stalker and Andrea Kauppinen.
Join us in preparing for the upcoming federal election by learning about what Basic Income is and what each federal political parties’ stance is on this policy.
Visit the Eventbrite page more more information or register below: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/basic-income-now-lunch-learn-tickets-167114186029
June 10, 2020: COVID-19 Update
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed all our lives – but Basic Income Waterloo Region (BIWR) continues to advocate for the social policy that could have made dealing with the economic effects of the crisis much simpler! The sudden layoffs and loss of jobs across Canada has brought into stark relief the fact that incomes for many Canadians can drop without warning – and in response to this realization, we are seeing much more discussion in the media about the advantages of a basic income.
Recent BIWR Activity
We have recently created a Fact Sheet entitled, “Basic Income for Economic Recovery and Wellbeing.” Please share with your networks. See: https://basicincomewrca.files.wordpress.com/2020/06/biwr-covid-communique-may20-2020.pdf
We were pleased to see that on May 11, 2020, the City of Kitchener passed a motion put forward by Ward 7 Councillor, Bill Ioannidis, asking the Ontario government to pursue a partnership with their federal counterparts to establish a Universal Basic Income (UBI). We have written to Mr. Ioannidis thanking him for this initiative, and we have also written to the Mayors of Waterloo and Cambridge suggesting they put forward a similar motion.
We were also pleased that Waterloo Region Record published a piece we submitted that clarified the difference between a University Basic Income and other designs that involve an income test. See: https://www.therecord.com/opinion/contributors/2020/05/26/basic-income-are-we-talking-about-the-same-thing.html
Coalition Canada: Basic Income/Revenu de Base
A new group has formed recently – Coalition Canada: Basic Income/Revenu de Base. BIWR is represented in the Coalition, which includes advocates from almost every province in Canada. The group developed out of a desire to support progress towards a Basic Income in Prince Edward Island (PEI). In July 2019, the Government of PEI struck a Special Committee of the Legislative Assembly on Poverty, and required that it bring recommendations regarding the creation of a fully-costed Basic Income Guarantee program for Prince Edward Island by July 2020. The motion was supported by members of all parties in the Legislative Assembly.
This initiative is one that all Basic Income advocates across Canada can support – because it offers an opportunity for the Federal government to partner with PEI to implement a BI program – that could be evaluated and from which the rest of Canada could learn. The Coalition has been writing to MPs across Canada urging them to support this initiative. The points being made include:
- PEI is ready to go! PEI has twice determined to seek federal support with two cross-party unanimous votes in the Legislature (2016 and 2019).
- PEI’s small population means that with a relatively small financial investment, a full provincial program can be implemented as a first step towards a Canada-wide BI program. It also makes this first step easily evaluated;
- PEI has a good mix of wealth/poverty, paid/unpaid work, urban/rural lifestyles, and economic and employment options for exploring basic income design issues.
- The residents of PEI are exceptionally knowledgeable about basic income and can contribute constructively to design and evaluation aspects of a program.
Basic Income Lobby Day – October 20, 2020
A further development led by the Coalition and the Ontario Basic Income Network (OBIN) is planning for a Basic Income Lobby Day in Ottawa on October 20, 2020. If our physical presence is not possible, planning is underway to engage MPs virtually. OBIN has posted a template for a letter to your MP that you can personalize. See https://www.obin.ca/lobby_day
Momentum for Basic Income around the World
The pandemic has elicited much more interest and support for a Basic Income not only in Canada but around the world. See https://basicincome.org
Basic Income Youth Network
We are excited that the Basic Income Youth Network has recently been created for “engaged young people under 35 who are passionate about basic income”. See: https://www.basicincomecanada.org/youth_network
Sign up for their newsletter and email updates!
Documentary Screening
Sat, Nov 23, 2019, 2:00-3:00 pm
Waterloo Public Library, Main Branch
“The Manitoba Story: a Basic Income Film” tells the story of the BIG (Basic Income Guarantee) experiments of the 1970s in Dauphin, Manitoba. Following the film, members of the WR Basic Income Coordinating Committee will lead a discussion of the basic income concept and the possible far-reaching benefits for this kind of approach.
Waterloo Public Library Event Page
Living Below the Line (LBTL) Theatre Project
Efforts to obtain funding for this community theatre project are underway. We are seeking grants from the Ontario Arts Council and Musagetes (KW Community Foundation) as well as the Ontario Trillium Foundation.
March 12, 2020: We are pleased to announce that the Ontario Arts Council has agreed to fund nearly $12,000 of our pilot project for Living Below the Line!
basicincomewr.ca 