Mr. Speaker, I want to begin this session with a subject that has become the topic of conversation across Canada: a guaranteed basic income. Across the political spectrum, the private sector, and dinner tables of northern families, a guaranteed basic income is accepted as the inevitable future for our country. Guaranteed basic income is the best way to address income disparity, eliminate poverty, and prepare our economy for the future. It is time for the Northwest Territories to embrace what is inevitable and start testing guaranteed basic incomes.

Mr. Speaker, a guaranteed basic income is a form of social security in which all citizens receive a regular, unconditional sum of money, either from a government or from some other public agency. This is independent of any other income. Now, to some people, this may sound like a farfetched scheme with no grounding in economic reality; a purely theoretical program that would be impossible for any reasonable government to consider. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to report that a pilot is about to begin in Ontario. Their government has embraced this bold idea and is working with communities to make it a reality.

Mr. Speaker, the Ontario government is acting on the 2016 recommendations of former Conservative Senator the Honourable Hugh Segal and will provide residents in Hamilton, Thunder Bay, and Lindsay with a basic income. Roughly 4,000 recipients will be randomly chosen from the three regions, where a single person could receive up to $16,000 per year, while a couple could receive up to $24,000 annually.

This three-year pilot project will stabilize the living situation of those struggling with poverty and who rely on income support payments and low-wage jobs. I wish all the recipients great success, and although we will not know the results for some time, fortunately, there is historical precedent on the success of a guaranteed basic income. From 1974 to 1979, a basic income pilot called Mincome was conducted in Dauphin, Manitoba. The poorest residents of the community received payments that topped up their earnings and ensured a basic minimum income. Mr. Speaker, in five short years, this program virtually eliminated poverty in that community.

Mr. Speaker, we often dream of a day when we will be free of poverty in the Northwest Territories and in Canada, and with this program, we can make that dream a reality today. I will be asking questions and encouraging our government to pilot a basic income program for the future of the Northwest Territories so we do not have to play catch-up once this becomes commonplace throughout Canada. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.