Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley thinks Lambton County would be an ideal location for the province's guaranteed annual income pilot project. The idea is to replace various social and welfare payments with a tax credit similar to the Guaranteed Income Supplement for seniors. Everyone's income would be topped up to a point above the poverty line. "I did raise the issue in the last election because it's been a great source of concern over the years as I've watched the income gap in Sarnia-Lambton grow."
"Those that have, continue to be prosperous. Those that do not, continue to fall behind. This is an idea whose time has come. The province is looking at it, the federal government's looking at it, and I can think of no better place to experiment, given the progress of nature of Lambton County, than to do it here." The provincial government has yet to decide which community will be the test site. The federal government is also considering the concept. A Liberal-dominated parliamentary committee called on the Trudeau government to explore the idea in a pre-budget report tabled Friday.
A pilot project in Manitoba in the 1970's virtually eliminated poverty but was never implemented because of a change in government.
