e-211 (Social benefits)
- Keywords
- 8545-421-165-01 Government Response to petitions concerning social benefits
- Budget 2016 (March 22, 2016)
- Guaranteed annual income
- Income distribution
- Pilot projects
Original language of petition: English
Petition to the Government of Canada
- Income inequality in Canada is reaching levels not seen in decades;
- The cost of administering many separate income support programs is high;
- Some current income supports and social assistance create a disincentive to work, by punishing recipients or clawing back benefits should they get part-time work;
- Income inequality and poverty have been related to countless negative outcomes, especially for children, including: mental and physical health problems, as well as lifetime educational and employment outcomes and life expectancy;
- The concept of a guaranteed minimum income, or "Mincome" has been proposed, with support from across the political spectrum;
- The idea of Mincome has been championed by former Senator Hugh Segal, and endorsed by the late Nobel-Prize winning economist Milton Friedman, who called it the "negative income tax.";
- A Mincome pilot project in Dauphin Manitoba was launched in the 1970s, co-funded by the Federal and Provincial governments; and
- The data from this experiment showed many significant improvements, including: better school attendance, improved mental and physical health outcomes, and less use of the health care system.
- Open for signature
- February 29, 2016, at 3:40 p.m. (EDT)
- Closed for signature
- June 28, 2016, at 3:40 p.m. (EDT)
- Presented to the House of Commons
-
Robert-Falcon Ouellette
(Winnipeg Centre)
June 14, 2017 (Petition No. 421-01518) - Government response tabled
- August 16, 2017
Only validated signatures are counted towards the total number of signatures.
Province / Territory | Signatures |
---|---|
Alberta | 173 |
British Columbia | 311 |
Manitoba | 694 |
New Brunswick | 37 |
Newfoundland and Labrador | 15 |
Northwest Territories | 15 |
Nova Scotia | 140 |
Nunavut | 2 |
Ontario | 853 |
Prince Edward Island | 40 |
Quebec | 175 |
Saskatchewan | 67 |
Yukon | 6 |