The class action lawsuit launched by four Lindsay residents who were enrolled in the Ontario Basic Income Pilot has moved another step forward.

In March of 2024 the Advocate first reported that the lawsuit had been certified by the court. Today, in this new formal notice of certification approved by the court, the notice has now been widely disseminated to the class. The Advocate reached out to Cavalluzzo LLP Barristers & Solicitors, the law firm in Toronto spearheading the class action lawsuit, for comment.

Stephen Moreau, Kaley Duff, and Ramna Safeer as class counsel, sent this written statement:

“Once a case is certified, which means the court approves the case to continue as a class action, the class who are included in the case have to be formally notified of the certification. The form and content of this Notice of Certification must be approved by the Court. We received Court approval recently, and now on Tuesday, March 17, Notice of Certification will be disseminated to the class.  The case will now proceed before the Court and move towards the second stage: the common issues trial, which is where the Court will decide the legal issues that were certified.”

Today’s notice will provide class members with information about the case, next steps, and how to opt out of the action if they wish. In this instance, under Ontario law, anyone who fits the class definition and who had been receiving basic income will automatically be included in the class unless they specifically choose to be excluded by opting out.

If the class action lawsuit is successful at the common issues trial, the class action will proceed to the third and final stage, which is when an adjudicator will determine how much money each individual class member is entitled.

The lawsuit was initiated by local residents Dana Bowman, Grace Marie Doyle Hillion, Susan Lindsay, and Tracey Mechefske.

The Ontario Basic Income Pilot was initiated by the province in 2017 under the Liberal government of Kathleen Wynne. It was set up in three areas – Hamilton region, Thunder Bay area, and Lindsay. Almost 4,000 people were involved, with 1,840 participants from Lindsay. It was set to run for three years.

A basic income can take many forms, but at its core it is a payment to eligible families or individuals to ensure a minimum income level regardless of employment status. Participants at the time received:

Participants could go to school to further their education or continue to work while receiving the basic income. The basic income amount decreased by 50 cents for every dollar an individual earns through work.

When the Conservative government won the subsequent election in 2018, one of the first policy decisions it made was to cancel the pilot, despite a campaign promise to let the three-year pilot play out.

Payments ended prematurely in March of 2019, leaving hundreds of people in a lurch.

In a previous interview with the Advocate, Dana Bowman says the “rug was pulled out from under us” when Ford cancelled the pilot, “and I will not forget that day, how it affected me and others around me.”