Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have spoken before in this House of the need for the NWT to implement the guaranteed basic income pilot in the life of this Assembly.

Whether it is a way to address income disparity or prepare for major changes in our economy, this innovative policy initiative is not only the right course for our government to take but, in all reality, an inevitable change we will have to implement even if this government chooses to remain idle and continue supporting paternalistic and punitive income support programs.

I've used historical examples of Dauphin, Manitoba, but I now have something more contemporary for this government to take note of, the Ontario Basic Income Pilot. The Province of Ontario is amongst several areas of the world that is pursuing a basic income project, including Finland, which began a two-year pilot last January. The three-year pilot project in Ontario which began in Hamilton and Thunder Bay last summer and in Lindsay last fall is testing whether unconditional cash support can boost health, education, and housing for people on social assistance who are earning low wages. Information gleaned from the three communities will guide future provincial policy on how to better support all Ontarians living in poverty.

How it works is that individuals chosen are part of the first wave of participants in this pilot project with basic income received on a monthly, no-strings-attached payment of up to $1,400 for people living in poverty, with those with disabilities receiving an additional $500 a month. This amount remains fixed no matter an individual's living conditions, which is a change from the Ontario Works payment, the province's welfare program for people without disabilities, where a person can have their benefits reduced based on if they have shelter or work.

Mr. Speaker, 3,000 people have been enrolled so far. The province helps to recruit another 6,000 participants with 4,000 who receive a basic income, fill out surveys, and participate in focus groups as part of the study. A further $2,000 won't go into the monthly payments but will be paid to complete surveys and tracked as a control group. Though they will need more time to properly analyze the full results of this ongoing pilot project, the initial result has been overwhelmingly positive and is achieving exactly what was intended: boosting health, improving prospects with better education and housing for people living in poverty.

Let us begin experimenting with the same kind of guaranteed basic income pilot because, from these results rendered initially, it would seem to be a policy that Northerners living in poverty could benefit from. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.