Social safety net no longer meeting needs

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/02/2023 (1262 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The adage “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is used to support the status quo. We are now in need of a call to action to fix what is clearly broken.

I am referring to Canada’s social safety net — what was intended to ensure the basic needs of life, such as food and shelter for all Canadians, is no longer meeting its goals. More than eight million Canadians are projected to use food banks in 2023. Our cities can no longer meet the needs of the homeless through temporary shelters. The overnight shelters that are available are often not safe for women.

Canadians live on our streets in makeshift shelters made from tarpaulins and cardboard, or along riverbanks and under bridges through dangerous, freezing winter conditions. Edmonton recently reported a dramatic increase in amputations related to frostbite. Winnipeg bus riders complain bus shelters have been taken over by homeless people struggling for survival.

Clearly, the current approach is not working.

The Canadian safety net is a conglomeration of programs run by the federal government, provincial governments and municipalities. Of the benefits available to disabled Manitobans, some provide direct support based on personal circumstances (disability allowances, Canada Pension Plan, Manitoba Employment and Income Assistance program), others offer tax relief (disability tax credits) or housing support (Canada Housing benefit, local supportive housing such as Manitoba Housing, Manitoba Rent Assist).

A partnership between the University of Manitoba, the Children’s Hospital and the Manitoba College of Family Physicians has created a tool called Get Your Benefits! to inform those in need of the available benefits and how to access them. There are six federal income-tax credits listed, and three different federal benefits for retirees.

In addition, there are five Manitoba-specific tax credits and rebates. But that’s not all; there are six benefits or subsidies that fall under the category of Employment and Income Assistance. Each of these programs requires management and adjudication of eligibility, in addition to the actual direct subsidy, tax rebate or tax credit.

The complexity associated with the multiple programs available is a serious barrier to those in need being able to access the supports available to them.

In addition, each of these programs has eligibility criteria and processes to adjudicate each application.

Many applicants are vulnerable because of disability, limited education or racial discrimination. They are, however, expected to navigate the complex environment for which the word “net” is very appropriate.

The solution is not a new idea. The minimum guaranteed income programs (“Mincome” in Manitoba from 1974 to 1979, and, more recently, Universal Basic Income in Ontario) were designed to address all these problems. The Ontario program was discontinued because it was “too expensive.”

The decision was a political one, and not an economic consideration. University of Manitoba economist Evelyn Forget has clearly articulated the economic advantages of a universal basic income; any evaluation of the costs must include the direct savings from other programs that will no longer be necessary, as well as the savings to health care, policing, justice, and other provincial services.

The root cause of many societal problems lies in our inability to address poverty. A universal basic income is a practical, sustainable and equitable solution that can meet many of the needs of the most vulnerable members of society.

While “trickle-down” economics, which favours the needs of high-income earners, proposes the benefits will trickle down to the less wealthy, in reality the benefits of a universal basic income will trickle up to more wealthy Manitobans by reducing crime and protecting the health-care system.

Alan Katz is a family physician and a professor in the departments of community health sciences and family medicine at the University of Manitoba.