Roundup: The choices around Basic Income

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Because I saw some news stories floating around this week yet again around Basic Income and the desire for the federal government to implement it, I wanted to point out that economist Lindsay Tedds has co-authored a book which was released yesterday on how to move beyond that discussion into better alternatives, drawing on her experience from the BC Basic Income panel that she was a part of.

To that end, here is Kevin Milligan providing some back-up on why this conversation involves choices that nobody likes to ever talk about. Funny that.

And yes, most Basic Income models keep gutting the supports for those who need them the most, and that is a problem.

https://twitter.com/MikePMoffatt/status/1651260056866811904

Ukraine Dispatch:

Russian forces pounded Bakhmut yet again, trying to destroy buildings so that the Ukrainians can’t use them as fortifications. Elsewhere, Ukraine was able to retrieve 44 POWs from Russian company, two of whom were civilians. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had an hour-long call with Chinese president Xi Jinping, which included talk of what role China could play in the peace process with Russia.

Good reads:

  • Public sector union PSAC says the talks have ground to a halt because the government won’t budge on wages or work-from-home provisions.
  • Marco Mendicino announced the first phase of the gun buyback programme, starting with the inventories of retailers, with some reluctant assistance.
  • David Lametti has tabled a bill to make changes to the sex offender registry in order to comply with a recent Supreme Court of Canada decision.
  • Ginette Petitpas Taylor unveiled the government’s Action Plan™ for boosting francophone immigration over the next five years.
  • Harjit Sajjan told the immigration committee he didn’t authorise the “facilitation letters” Senator McPhedran was handing out…but he also didn’t check his emails.
  • The government had three weeks’ notice things were going to blow up in Sudan and didn’t prepare; there are now 200 Canadian troops helping the evacuation.
  • The mandated legislated review of the statute that created NSICOP and NSIRA should have begun already but has not yet, and no one will say when it will.
  • The Senate’s human rights committee is planning to conduct a study on the allegations of racism taking place at the Canadian Human Rights Commission.
  • The Ethics committee is summoning the Lobbying Commissioner to explain how Navdeep Bains’ appointment to Rogers’ management is allowed.
  • A former Peter MacKay leadership campaign staffer is suing Erin O’Toole for claiming that he hacked into their Zoom calls.
  • Crown attorneys in Manitoba are complaining of overwork and insufficient staffing (while the province continues to blame the federal government for crime problems).
  • Artur Wilczynski says that there needs to be some culture change around intelligence in government and policy-making.
  • Leah West submitted her comments on the proposed foreign agent registry.
  • Philippe Lagassé offers a much-needed reality check on the defence spending debate, and what the demands actually mean in practice.
  • Jason Markusoff looks at how Alberta’s Social Credit party reformed itself into the Pro-Life Alberta Political Association, which is purely a fundraising machine.

Odds and ends:

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