Basic income recipient says Ontario should fight poverty, not the class action she's part of

Jessie Golem has spent much of the last six years sharing the stories of participants in Ontario's basic income pilot program.

A former participant herself, the Hamilton photographer says the promise of three years of guaranteed income was life-changing. 

She was one of 4,000 low-income earners who signed up for the pilot in 2017. At the time, she was working four jobs and hoping to start a full-time photography business. The pilot gave Golem the chance she needed, and she calculated that she could launch the business and be earning more than the $34,000 ceiling for the pilot before it ended.

She didn't get that chance. The Ford government cancelled the pilot in 2018, within a year from its start under the previous Liberal government under Kathleen Wynne.

"If the pilot had been allowed to continue, my life would look a lot different right now," Golem told CBC Hamilton this week.

"I would no longer be living in poverty," she said. "And I do want damages for that."

Province to pay $320,000 in legal fees: plaintiffs' lawyer

Under the pilot, about 4,000 participants in Hamilton, Lindsay, Ont., and Thunder Bay, Ont., earning less than $34,000 received just under $17,000 annually. The amount decreased by 50 cents for every dollar an individual earned through work and couples received just more than $24,000. People with disabilities received an additional $6,000. 

In a class-action lawsuit, which was certified by a Superior Court judge in Lindsay, Ont., on March 4, former participants are seeking damages of up to $200 million, alleging Ontario breached the terms and conditions of the contract it entered with them.

Like Golem, many of the participants have recounted feeling hope as their lives improved for a time, only for them to return to poverty when the pilot ended. 

WATCH | Cannington, Ont., resident Jessica Topfer shares what basic income meant to her

Jessica Topfer says basic income was the key that unlocked "dozens of doors"

1 year ago

Duration 1:23

When she was a university student, Cannington, Ont. resident Jessica Topfer was a part of Ontario's basic income pilot. She said the money she received allowed her opportunities she otherwise wouldn't have had.

Monday at Queen's Park, alongside Golem and Sheila Regehr of advocacy group Basic Income Canada, lawyer Stephen Moreau announced the province agreed to pay $320,000 in legal fees.

Moreau is lead council representing the plaintiffs, and a partner at Cavalluzzo LLP.

That firm also represents the Canadian Media Guild, the union to which many CBC Radio-Canada workers belong.

Government says its working to make life more affordable

Moreau said the payment will go toward compensating a portion of the fees the plaintiff-side incurred while Ontario fought the merits of the class action in court. Such a payment is common in cases like this, he said. 

Moreau said there are currently no court dates scheduled for the lawsuit, and it's unclear how long the case could take. He said he encourages the province settle the matter outside of court. 

CBC Hamilton asked Ontario's Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services (MCSS) — which administered the pilot — about the decision to pay the legal fees. It would be "inappropriate to comment," the ministry's communications team wrote in an email, since the case is before the courts.  

MCSS said the government "continues to take action to make life more affordable," and pointed to increases in Ontario Disability Support Program payments — a 6.5 per cent increase in July, 2023, for instance — and work to improve employment services. 

Golem said it's "quite disgusting" that the "government is paying that money out of taxpayers' pocket to fight against … the most vulnerable people in Ontario."

She said she would much rather see resources go toward poverty reduction, or a new basic income program. "We're as strong as our most vulnerable members," she said. "And we pay for the cost of poverty."

"Furious" about the cancellation, Golem started a portrait series called Humans of Basic Income to tell the stories of other participants. She said many were hesitant to join in the first place because they didn't trust the government, and the cancellation validated that.

She said the cancellation caused "irreversable" damage, and many former participants she now calls friends are in poor health and struggling to get by. One former participant, Hamilton resident Michael Hampson, died in 2020. Golem said she thinks poverty contributed to his death, and she saw his health decline after the pilot's cancellation. 

In November, Golem spoke at an event at Hamilton's Central Library in which researchers found that, during the program, basic income pilot participants reported feeling more dignified, as well as improvements in physical and mental health, their diets and their relationships.

"Almost every single person we spoke with used basic income in a positive way to improve their lives … [the program] worked precisely as it was meant to," researcher Tom McDowell said at the time. 

Golem said for her, it's a "privilege and responsibility" to share their stories. She said Ontarians need to know that participants were people like them, and the impact that public policy can have.

"The government makes these decisions and people can die."