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June 2008: Robley E. George launches: a "Political Convention-ready presentation of this Democratic Socioeconomic Platform" including proposals for minimum and maximum income.
May 2008: Citizen's Income Toronto promotes online petition for Guaranteed Annual Income
April 2008: National poverty hearings start in Ottawa (Standing Committee on Human Resources and Social Development). See also MP Tony Martin's news on these hearings.
April 2008: Citizen's for Public Justice release report: "Towards a Guaranteed Livable Income"
Feb. 2008: Canadian senator files motion calling for study on guaranteed annual income feasibility.
January 2008: Basic Income Earth Network 12th congress to be held June 2008 in Ireland. Call for papers extended to Feb. 15, 2008.
(see also more new and links on our LINKS page)
January 2008: Pilot project in Namibia: first BIG payout Jan. 18, 08 :
950 villagers collected their first montly grant of N$100 (planned for for the next two years) from the BIG Committee, made up of civil society organisations, who identified Omitara as the site for a pilot project to test their theory of poverty reduction and economic development, after raising the funds. If the pilot project is successful, the Coalition will lobby the Namibian government to implement the project countrywide with State funds.
December 2007: Federal Green Party calls for Guaranteed Livable Income.
August 2007: Namibia announces Basic Income Guarantee pilot project.
July 2007: NAPO organizes first steps to national movement for guaranteed income with July 7th meeting. National working group formed. Read one account of the meeting here.
June 2007: Economic Security For All Conference, University of Regina, Saskatchewan, June 6 &7. 2007. See article in Regina Leader-Post newspaper. Organized by the University of Regina Department of Justice Studies and the community-based Regina Anti-Poverty Network
June 2007: Important article on guaranteed income and monetary reform by Richard Cook, retired US federal analyst with 20 years with the US Treasury Department.
May 2007: Guy Standing of Basic Income Earth Network speaks at conference in Vancouver BC March 29th at the "Jobs & Justice" Conference. See video of keynote speech on Working TV (for some reason he does not seem to directly mention Basic Income even though he is the current co-chair of the Basic Income Earth Network and one of the founders.
March 2007: National Council on Welfare's Report on poverty raises solution of Guaranteed Livable Income. See page 16 & 17 of their Winter 2007 report. And in Questionnaire on poverty in Canada, Guaranteed Livable Income was ranked number one as having the biggest impact to permanently reduce poverty rates by individual respondents and number two by organizational respondents. (See page 12 and 28 of their Questionnaire report by MiroMetrica)
September 2006: Conservative Senator Hugh Segal has article advocating Guaranteed Income in Toronto Star: "Welfare study shows need for guaranteed income" (Sept. 2, 2006)
August 2006: LIFE event: Film and discussion on Martin Luther King's Poor People 's campaign: Sat. Aug. 26.
August 2006: CBC news story: "Advocacy groups say... the poor in Canada really need a guaranteed annual income that will cover the basics of food, clothing and a place to live." (CBC radio Aug.24)
July 2006: Vancouver Sun columnist slams Women's Economic Justice Report on Guaranteed Livable Income. More...
June 2006: Standing Committee on the Status of Women discusses Guaranteed Livable Income. Read more...
June 2006: Caledon Institute recommends 3 tiered Income plan to replace EI and Welfare in new report. An article about their report by Canwest News was in various newspapers on July 3, 06.
June 2006: LIFE nominated to apply for a Citizen's Bank Shared Interest Grant
May 2006: LIFE summer workshop announced.
April 2006: Public Meeting to release Guaranteed Livable Income Report by the Women's Economic Justice Project
April 2006: Quebec conference on Minimum Income Guarantee -- "Le revenu minimum garanti:solution ou utopie?" Université Laval
March 2006: WISE BC calls for a Guaranteed Annual Income: " it is time we ALL voiced our outrage on behalf of those living on the edge. It is time to implement a guaranteed annual income for all."
February 2006: Guaranteed income for farmers broached in a National Post (Feb.22, 06, A8) article: "Give aid or let family farms go bust: Study: Farm income negative: Prairie grain, oilseed farmers might need guaranteed income" (See item number 3). Professor Hartley Furtan, University of Saskatchewan, policy paper 'Whither Goes Prairie Agriculture.'" Related article.
Senator promises to make poverty an issue (Regina Leader-Post, Feb. 21, 06) by Anne Kyle: "Conservative Senator Hugh Segal promised Monday to put poverty, particularly rural poverty, back on the political agenda through his work on the Senate Standing Committee on Agriculture and Forestry... Segal also proposes the creation of a basic income floor that would ensure people living in poverty would receive sufficient income support to live with a measure of self-respect and dignity." See also article in Farm Focus
January 2006: LIFE will begin a four month project -- Community Education to Make Poverty History -- made possible by a grant from the Public Service Alliance of Canada. --- Read more...
January 2006: Videos of speakers on Guaranteed Livable/Basic Income at a conference in Oct. 05 in Vancouver now online
December 2005: "A team of researchers from the Universities of Manitoba and Winnipeg plan to uncover the effects of the GAI [Guaranteed Annual Income]" See also research announcement.
December 2005: Workshop and Roundtable on Guaranteed Livable Income organized by anti-violence women's group in Vancouver. Read Anarchocyclist's thoughts on the one day conference (Dec. 4)
December 2005: LIFE has public forum on Guaranteed Livable Income in downtown Victoria. 25 people attend and discuss GLI at this two hour event with slide show presentation on December 3.
December 2005: Article in "The Walrus" (July/August 2005,) magazine states that the federal Green Party no longer has Guaranteed Annual Income in its Platform. (It is still a part of the provincial Greens platform)
November 2005: NDP (provincial party) passes resolution in favour of Guaranteed Livable Income at Vancouver convention. 800 people voted in favor of it. This link goes to a page with all the resolutions, to find the GLI part use the "Edit" "Find" function on your toolbar to find the word "livable". It is under "SOCIAL SERVICES Q2005-01 Guaranteed Livable Income"
October 2005: LIFE has display on Guaranteed Livable Income in the foyer of the main branch of the public library for the month of October to coincide with the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (Oct. 17) to point out the we could make poverty history with a guaranteed livable income.
October 2005: Panel on Guaranteed Livable/Basic Income at the Women's Economic Security Conference in Vancouver
October 2005 Major Canadian Bank economists advocate guaranteed income
June 2005 Members of LIFE speak to the Frederickton Anti-Poverty Organization
July 2005 Victoria Status of Women Action Group receives funding for a project examining how women would benefit from a Guaranteed Livable Income
May 2005 BC Provincial Green Party includes Guaranteed Livable Income as part of their election platform
March 2005 International speakers attend USBIG conference on guaranteed income in New York
January 2005 Forum on Basic Citizenship Income one of the most massively attended meetings at the World Social Forum
December 2004: The Pictou Statement published in the Canadian Woman Studies Journal as well as the article Why women would gain from a Guaranteed Livable Income.
April 2004: Quebec introduces a guaranteed minimum income
March 2004: Louise Arbour's speech on human & economic rights
January 2004 Brazil implements Basic Income Guarantee