Delegates at the 2022 Convention of the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) in Whistler approved a resolution that calls on the federal government to implement a guaranteed livable basic income, but not without some debate about the effectiveness of such a move.
Coun. Jeremy Loveday of Victoria, who helped to spearhead the resolution, welcomed passage. “There is a lot of grassroots support for the exploration of a guaranteed livable income and I imagine those groups who pushed the City of Victoria to endorse the resolution in the first place and also across B.C. will continue to do that work and hopefully, we will see a positive response from (senior governments) as well.”
Mayor John Ranns of Metchosin, who had spoken against the motion, said the resolution has the potential to create unintended consequences. “The unintended consequences of anything that we do have to be considered and one of the big ones is giving the federal government far too much authority over individuals,” he said. “We have seen already the denial of charter rights through coercion with regards to the vaccine mandates, and whether you agree with that or not, the fact remains that that can happen again in some fashion. All the federal government has to do is set conditions for a basic income and then they can coerce people into doing just about anything they want.”
