Disrupting the Status Quo: Basic Income for People with Disabilities

This paper explores how a basic income (BI) program for people with disabilities could affirm the ideals outlined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Ontario Human Rights Code and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. ABI can provide its recipients with an increased level of human dignity, autonomy and inclusion when compared with the current model of social assistance in Ontario. Theories of equality and social justice will be explored to demonstrate the ways in which a BI could provide greater well-being for people with disabilities. A range of judicial decisions will be reviewed. The opinions expressed in these selected court cases bolster the establishment of a BI program in Ontario. Expert testimony and dissenting opinions show that the Charter may obligate a ‘duty to act’ to promote a basic standard of living which a BI could provide for people with disabilities.