In the fall of 2016, the Liberal government commissioned a report on the feasibility of introducing a guaranteed minimum income in Quebec.
In November 2017, the Expert Panel rejected the idea of a guaranteed minimum income and stated that it would be better to work with the current social assistance system by improving the Individual and Family Assistance Act.
The Liberal government criticized the experts’ report and announced, on December 10, 2017, its $3 billion anti-poverty action plan that provides for a guaranteed minimum income for social assistance recipients deemed unfit for work.
A “fake” guaranteed minimum income
From our point of view, this is not a real guaranteed minimum income, because it is not concretely aimed at improving the quality of life of beneficiaries who are unable to work. The action plan does not mention that these individuals will have the right to have a spouse, nor to have help from their family in the form of unrestricted cash donations, without penalty.
Our firm has been advocating for years to ensure that people with severe employment constraints can have the right to have a spouse without the spouse’s income being counted towards cutting the last-resort assistance benefit.
After measures that have had the effect of increasing poverty among the poorest, the government presents itself as a defender of the latter.
A real guaranteed minimum income: removing existing repressive measures
The Minister’s plan for a guaranteed minimum income says nothing except an increase in social assistance benefits . But what would a real guaranteed minimum income be?
The right to receive help from relatives
Our office constantly sees unemployable individuals being charged a considerable amount of money for excess cash because they are not allowed to have more than $2,500 in their bank account. Often, parents and caregivers accumulate money to ensure the well-being of their children and loved ones who are unfit for work.
Will the Minister remove this restriction of not being entitled to more than $2,500 in the bank account?
The right to have a roomer
The measure to count roomers as work income was adopted by the Liberal government at the beginning of its mandate. It is hard to imagine a claimant living without a room with the little benefit they receive from social assistance.
In addition, the roomer may also become a spouse over time and both may be under investigation and subsequently receive a claim from social assistance for married life.
Will the government allow claimants declared unfit for employment to have roomers?
The right to training in order to enter the labour market
We have many clients who have severe employment constraints who want to take full-time training. However, they are systematically told that they are not allowed to be full-time students without the approval of their social assistance officer.
With a real guaranteed minimum income, the Minister should give people who have significant difficulties the opportunity to take courses they want and obtain their secondary 5, despite the difficulties that life has given them.
Going against the experts’ recommendations
The Liberal government could easily have amended the law, which already includes separate provisions for employable people on social assistance, versus people who are unfit for employment who are on the social solidarity program.
Among other things, this Act already provides for a different amount of benefit in accordance with a claimant’s fitness and incapacity for employment. In addition, there are already exclusions that allow people declared unfit for employment to inherit or have more money in their bank account.
It would have been easy to add other pieces of legislation in that way. For example, the government could have amended the law to allow people on the social solidarity program to obtain the right to travel outside the country for more than 7 days.
However, the government ignored the recommendations of the Expert Panel. There is a law that already exists, which was easily modifiable by increasing the benefits paid to claimants.
There will be a change in many laws, not to mention the expenses related to this announcement, for the sole purpose of fulfilling a desire to introduce a guaranteed minimum income that is not a true universal guaranteed minimum income.