OTTAWA – A guaranteed basic income for all Canadians has emerged as the top policy choice of Liberal MPs, just as the Trudeau government is crafting its plan to help people weather the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and rebuild the ravaged economy.
The Liberal caucus is calling on the government to adopt the idea in a priority policy resolution for consideration at the party’s upcoming national convention.
And MPs consider it so important that they’ve designated it their top resolution, guaranteeing that it will go directly to the Nov. 12-15 convention for debate and a vote.
It is among more than 50 priority resolutions from the governing party’s provincial and territorial organizations and its various commissions that will be the subject, starting today, of a two-week online discussion among registered Liberals.
Liberal MPs are not alone in urging a guaranteed basic income. The 50 resolutions include numerous calls from all corners of the country pressing the government to adopt the idea in one form or another.
There are also multiple resolutions, including one from the caucus, calling on the government to develop enforceable national standards for long-term care homes — and to provide provinces with the funding needed to meet those standards. Long-term care facilities have borne the brunt of the more than 9,000 COVID-19-related deaths in Canada.
Photo credit: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston
News source: The Canadian Press
