THUNDER BAY — Benjamin Murray and hundreds of other Thunder Bay-area residents who enrolled in Ontario's Basic Income Pilot will be watching closely as a lawsuit against the province over the project's cancellation moves forward.
A Superior Court judge in Toronto released a decision this month certifying the case as a class action.
"I wasn't even aware of this until this morning. So I'm actually really excited to take a look and see where this is headed," Murray said.
The province could still file for an appeal.
The pilot was introduced by the Liberal government in 2017 with the goal of assessing the impacts of a basic income, and involved about 4,000 people living in the Hamilton, Lindsay and Thunder Bay areas.
Participants were to receive up to $17,000 a year for three years in exchange for opening up their lives to researchers monitoring the outcomes.
People with disabilities received up to an additional $500 a month.
Recipients who worked had their payments reduced by 50 cents for every dollar they earned until their income reached $34,000 if single, or $48,000 if they had a partner.
After being accepted into the program, many people signed leases for apartments, pursued formal education, or made other commitments based on the guaranteed income.
Others were able to take steps to improve their physical or mental health.
But in 2018, after the Progressive Conservatives won the election, the government unexpectedly cancelled the $150 million program effective in March 2019.
The subsequent $200 million lawsuit alleged that the government had breached the terms of the contract by ending it early, but an initial court application was dismissed.
That decision was reversed in 2022 by the Ontario Court of Appeal, sending the matter back to Superior Court and the recent approval of certification as a class action.
A study released in 2021 by a Lakehead University research team documented the benefits of the basic income pilot project to recipients' daily lives, and showed how these gains were reversed after its cancellation.
In Murray's case, enrollment in the program enabled him to buy better food for his young family, and acquire a vehicle for the first time.
"The banks took me seriously," he said.
He's still bothered by how the pilot was terminated.
"The hardest part was finding out through the media instead of the government actually telling us what was going on. Then, just an abrupt stop in payment without really knowing what was going to go in the future."
Murray, who lives with a disability, added "That impacted my family less than it did others, I'm sure, because we were just able to pull our pieces together. But I heard of other people that lost a lot, like people who applied for housing because they had more money. Now, all of a sudden, that's taken away. They're homeless."
Organizations that advocate for Canadians living with income insecurity are welcoming the next step in the legal process.
Sheila Regehr, chair of Basic Income Network Canada, said "There is an incredible amount of evidence which shows the benefits of a basic income program. If everyone has enough money to put food on the table, a roof over their heads, maintain their dignity, and be a part of the economy, we are all better able to manage the other challenges that arise in our lives."
A lawyer for the plaintiffs, Stephen Moreau of Cavalluzzo LLP, said that subject to a potential appeal, the class action will now move to the second stage, which is the common issue trial.
"This is where we ask the court to decide the legal issues that were certified. In this case, that means the court will determine, amongst other things, whether or not there was a binding contract between the government and all class members, such that the government owes damages for breaching the contract."
