Hungry Manitobans need Basic Income: Winnipeg Harvest urges new government to adopt BI
By: Winnipeg Harvest

As prices of food continue to rise daily, Winnipeg Harvest continues to see people using the food bank.

Winnipeg Harvest has called on the new provincial government to adopt Basic Income so that all Manitobans have access to healthy and nutritious food.

What people receive on welfare has proved grossly inadequate in meeting what they need for food, shelter and other basic necessities of life. This has created a wide food gap, and only a commensurate Basic Income can close this gap.

Poverty is the #1 determinant of health. It is negatively affected by lack of basic income. After 30 years of dealing with people in need of emergency food, it’s time to implement a basic income. Winnipeg Harvest believes that people get sicker and they heal slower if they do not have money; and if health is a basic human right, then having a basic income that is sufficient to sustain a healthy way of living must be a basic right, too.

It is the responsibility of the Government of Manitoba, and the entire provincial community by extension, to consider the best ways to provide for those who are in need. A basic income for this group would enable all Manitobans to have enough money to access more nutritional food choices and afford other basic necessities of life. This is something the current welfare system fails to do.

As we welcome the new provincial government, we call for urgent attention to this issue. It’s time for BASIC INCOME, and no other time seems better than NOW!