The Ontario Liberals have teamed up with a Tory to seek advice for rolling out its basic income pilot project.

That's what Hugh Segal — an erstwhile Tory senator, chief of staff to ex-prime minister Brian Mulroney and senior staffer to former Progressive Conservative Premier Bill Davis, and onetime draft pick for the federal Conservative leadership — has been tasked with in his role as special adviser on Ontario's basic income plan announced in the February budget.

The self-described Red Tory and longtime basic income advocate said its implications and underlying themes transcend partisan lines.

"I think reducing poverty is not about party affiliation," Segal said in an interview. "If you look at the original ideas around a guaranteed annual income you'll find people as diverse as Tommy Douglas and Milton Friedman, in the United States. Friedman argued, from the right, that you're better to give the basic amount of money to people who are poor themselves — they will know what to do with it, they will spend it more efficiently than a heavily bureaucratic government-run welfare system, which is kind of what we have now."

As part of his mandate, Segal will put together a discussion paper that will cover potential criteria for selecting target populations and locations, modes of delivery, and advice on how the Ministry of Community and Social Services can evaluate results of its basic income pilot.

"We really haven’t made immense progress on reducing the amount of people living beneath the poverty line across the country over the last quarter of a century," Segal said. "The question is whether welfare now, as we currently understand it, is the only basis upon which we can attack the question of poverty. The purpose of the pilot project is to test other approaches to see if they might be more effective, more efficient, encourage labour force participation, protect people's freedom of choice and independence as human beings, and treat them with the kind of respect we all want to be treated with, whether we're rich poor or otherwise."

He told QP Briefing that an appropriate model would take one of two approaches — either one specific jurisdiction or city would be the sole saturated test site, or broad controlled samples in various areas across the province would undergo testing simultaneously. The preferred methodology could also vary — Segal cited the "mincome" experiment in Dauphin, Man., in the 1970s that essentially worked as a wage top-up, as well as efforts introduced by then-Ontario premier Bill Davis that functioned more like a negative income tax credit. Back then, an individual would file his or her taxes, and if they fell below a certain level, they would be credited automatically.

Over the summer, Segal plans to meet with various social policy groups, First Nations, academic experts and municipalities to determine the best way forward. He has no specific cities in mind just yet, but viable contenders would have to reflect a diverse population, as well as the array of cultural, social and economic factors that lead to poverty. Some cities, such as Thunder Bay and Lambton, have already presented themselves as potential candidates.

"We want to ensure that we are developing a thoughtful, evidence-based approach to test the idea of a basic income, and we look forward to Mr. Segal’s advice as we begin this work," Community and Social Services Minister Helena Jaczek said in a statement.

Segal has an accomplished résumé. Despite belonging to the Conservative party, he was appointed to the Senate in 2005 by then-Liberal PM Paul Martin. It was there that he chaired the anti-terrorism and foreign relations committees before resigning in 2014 to become master of Massey College at the University of Toronto. There was speculation at the time he left because of a rift with his party regarding the Senate expense scandal and controversial niqab debate, but the self-dubbed proponent of Senate reform cited his fondness for limited terms when he departed. Segal also backed Patrick Brown as leader for the Ontario Progressive Conservatives last year.

Segal was appointed by the Ontario Liberals on a "pro bono basis" and said he looks forward to giving back to a community that allowed his own family, who emigrated from Russia, to thrive. He is expected to deliver his paper this fall, which the government will circulate for broader comment before possible implementation next spring.

To contact the reporter on this story:
snanji@qpbriefing.com
416-212-5789

Former Tory senator to advise Liberals on ‘mincome’ pilot

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