Letter to MLA

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Brock University *

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3P68

Subject

Economics

Date

Feb 20, 2024

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pdf

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2

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Melissa Sheehy-Richard MLA Hants West 58 Gerrish Street Windsor, Nova Scotia, B0N2T0 melissa.mlaoffice@gmail.com July 9, 2023 Dear Ms. Sheehy-Richard I’m writing to voice my concerns regarding the struggle many Nova Scotian’s face due to the lack of sufficient income support policies. As the negative impacts of these insufficient policies are being exasperated due to the ever-increasing cost of living and inflation, now is the time for a proactive policy change. In October of this year, minimum wage in Nova Scotia will be $15.00 per hour, earning a full-time worker (35 hours per week) approximately $2100 per month (Province of Nova Scotia, 2023). If an individual is in receipt of Income Assistance, they earn approximately $1066 per month (Province of Nova Scotia, 2023). I struggle to understand how the provincial government can rationalize setting such a low threshold for income when it’s clearly documented by the federal Market Basket Measure (MBM) that a modest, basic standard of living in Nova Scotia requires an average monthly income of $4150 (Statistics Canada, 2023). The discrepancy in the above income amounts is staggering to me. I believe these existing provincial policies mean many Nova Scotian’s live, day to day, trying to survive with limited agency and means to make proactive choices to improve standard of living. If Nova Scotia were to take an alternative approach by providing a Universal Basic Income (UBI) based on the MBM, i magine the increased health and productivity we could see if all Nova Scotian’s fel t secure knowing their basic needs would be met. With positive impacts recorded during pilot programs in Manitoba and Ontario including improvements in physical and mental health, reduced need for social supports, decrease in lost time at work and increased completion of secondary and post-secondary education, among others, and comparable impacts noted after issuing the COVID Emergency Relief Benefit, it appears to me, there is a strong case for an evidence based policy shift to a UBI support model in Nova Scotia (Cox, 2020), (Ferdosi et al, 2022), (Olive, 2021). Sincerely, xxxxx
References Cox, D. (2020, June 24) Canada’s forgotten universal basic income experiment. BBC Worklife. https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200624-canadas-forgotten-universal-basic-income-experiment Ferdosi, M., McDowell, T., Lewchuk, W., Ross, S. (24, February 2022) On how Ontario trialed basic income. UNESCO Inclusive Policy Lab. https://en.unesco.org/inclusivepolicylab/analytics/how-ontario-trialed-basic- income Olive, D. (2021, June 24). The success of CERB is proof a universal basic income is doable and beneficial. Toronto Star. https://www.thestar.com/business/opinion/2021/06/24/the-success-of-cerb-is- proof-a-universal-basic-income- is-doable-and-beneficial.html Province of Nova Scotia. (2023, July 7). Basic Needs Assistance. https://novascotia.ca/coms/employment/basic-needs-assistance/index.html Province of Nova Scotia. (2023, July 9). Minimum Wage https://novascotia.ca/lae/employmentrights/minimumwage.asp Statistics Canada. (2023, June 21). Market Basket Measure https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1110006601
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