The impact of the Ontario Basic Income Pilot on community health and engagement in Lindsay

By Emma Sonnemann

In a partnership with Trent University’s Community Research Centre, The Lindsay Advocate has been working with the International Development Studies Department. This partnership has allowed two students to research Lindsay’s experience with the basic income pilot by talking to community members and leaders to continue the conversation in a two-part series. This opinion piece is part two of two in the series.

Several years have passed since the Conservative government cancelled Ontario’s Basic Income Pilot (OBIP) program, but the impacts of the program – and especially its premature cancellation are still very prominent in the lives and minds of community members. My research partner and I interviewed Lindsay residents who received funds from OBIP about their experiences and feelings surrounding it. Our research has focused on the way the program impacted individuals in various sectors of their lives. The sectors I looked at are community health and wellbeing, and community engagement and civic mindedness.

All the past recipients we interviewed expressed that they experienced positive shifts in their mental health while receiving basic income funds. Past recipient Dana Bowman said, “I finally had dignity. It gave me independence.” Others expressed a similar sentiment. The importance of socialization was mentioned multiple times throughout our interviews as well. While receiving basic income, recipients were able to attend events and engage in activities which they could not have easily afforded otherwise. These events had major positive impacts on individuals’ sense of belonging and state of mind. Multiple interview participants also stated basic income allowed them to access and receive medical care and services that they previously could not. The program also made travelling for medical appointments much easier as some didn’t have to worry as much about the associated costs. Medical issues and appointments are stressful enough; they should not be made worse or inaccessible due to costs.

All our interview participants expressed a willingness and desire to give back to the community of Lindsay, and receiving basic income made that possible for many of them.

According to the knowledge of the individuals we interviewed, the broader community of Lindsay experienced positive effects thanks to the program. Local businesses benefitted, and initiatives like a community garden had the funds and ability to run, and even donate some goods to the food bank and homeless shelter. Bowman said, “The basic income made me really feel more of a community. We were working together as a nucleus.” This sort of ‘all for one, one for all’ mindset carried through all of our interviews. There likely were some people who took the funds and did not spend them productively or invest in the community at all, but according to the information we have heard and gathered, those people did not represent the majority.

The program’s early demise seems to have had an unfortunate, but understandable effect on some recipients. Many expressed a complete lack of trust in the government and said they have very little faith when it comes to the government’s ability to follow through on promises moving forward. We were told many stories about people whose three-year plans were abruptly halted and whose hopes disintegrated along with the cancellation. “It could have changed so many things for everybody, if it had been a success,” said one past recipient, who didn’t want to be identified. She explained how much anger she felt in the community when the cancellation was announced and how she felt no consideration was given to the people the cancellation would impact when the government made the choice.

Everything we heard from interview participants suggested that the basic income pilot was benefiting many individuals and the community of Lindsay as a whole. It is unfortunate this was ruined by the Conservative government’s premature cancellation of the program. It would be foolish to say that basic income is the solution to all problems in society, but it is surely a step in the right direction.

Basic income has shown great potential as a tool to promote social justice and equality in many of the communities it has been used in. Despite critics who believe that implementing universal basic income as a permanent measure would lead to people taking advantage of “free money” from the government, past and current research suggest that this is not at all the case.

Productive contributions to society can take many different forms; basic income creates opportunities for people who may not have the ability or means to contribute in the standard sense. But it gives people the ability to make spaces and opportunities for themselves. Everyone needs a hand up at some point in their lives. Basic income could act as this hand up for many.

“In a heartbeat, you lose your job and you’re in the same place as I am. It’s about self-esteem, and dignity, and being able to be part of a community, and part of society, and feeling good about yourself… anyone can end up like me, said Tracey Mechefske, another interview participant. I went to university. I went to college. I had a plan for my life, and my life didn’t turn out that way.”

Many people seem to overlook the human side of basic income and focus all their energy on the economics of it. We all deserve access to healthcare, we all deserve to participate in society, and we most certainly all deserve to have a sense of human dignity.