PEI

Have your say on what a guaranteed income would look like

Islanders are being asked for their input on a pilot project that could bring a guaranteed basic income to P.E.I.

P.E.I. government holding a series of community forums

The public meeting on a basic income guarantee will be Wednesday in Charlottetown. (Stephanie Kelly/CBC)

Islanders are being asked for their input on a pilot project that could bring a guaranteed basic income to P.E.I.

The idea behind the model is government would provide a certain guaranteed minimum income to all Islanders, without them having to qualify for other government programs.

In December, the legislature voted to have the province work with the federal government in hopes of setting up a pilot project. Ottawa said it would provide data to support the project, but didn't offer any money.

The province launched a series of community forums to gather feedback from Islanders and get a better idea of what a basic income model would look like.

MLA Richard Brown will host the session on a basic income guarantee. (Rick Gibbs/CBC)

Richard Brown, MLA for Charlottetown-Victoria Park, will be hosting Wednesday night's meeting in Charlottetown.

"Right now, everybody is just saying 'We want a basic income guarantee,' and the federal government is saying 'Well, what do you mean?'" said Brown.

"We're at the point of saying what would it look like, how would it be deployed. And we're going through the Senate, because that's a faster way to get things done, I think, in terms of getting a bill through the Senate and then on to Parliament."

The forum will be at the Murphy Community Centre in Charlottetown from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Corrections

  • An earlier version of this story said this is the first of the public meetings on basic income. It is not.
    Jun 21, 2017 3:28 PM AT

With files from Stephanie Kelly