Imagine if you, as an aspiring musician, painter, sculptor, potter, dancer, magician, etc. could receive an ongoing, reliable base of income — stabilizing your finances sufficiently to enable daily pursuit of your craft.
Imagine receiving that income until such time as it would no longer be needed; that is, until income from sales of or employment from your work would cover food, housing, and other essentials.
Imagine the federal and provincial governments getting behind this program, recognizing the immense value that the arts and artists generate in our society — socially, economically, and spiritually.
A pipe dream? Well, not in Ireland. Following a three-year (2022–2025) pilot program in which 2000 artists and creative arts workers received a weekly stipend of about CDN $529, Ireland has made the Basic Income for the Arts (BIA) program permanent — possibly the first program of its kind in the world.
Designed for professional practicing artists, the program will continue to fund 2000 people “to incentivize [the] development and growth of professional creative practice through self-employment; to counter the earnings instability and precarious nature of working in the arts, and the detrimental effect it has on artists’ mental health; [and] to foster artists’ agency and safeguard freedom of expression.”
The program will also help, among other objectives, “to retain talent in the sector by reducing the need for artists to work outside of the arts for economic reasons; to support social cohesion and societal wellbeing by creating more opportunities for citizens to engage in the arts, and to offer a larger selection of artworks and performances to enjoy; [and] to recognize the contribution of artists to a pluralistic society, and their contribution to the vibrancy of communities across the nation.”
How visionary, how exciting, how inspiring. Irish eyes are smiling!
And so, too, could Canadian eyes if our federal and provincial governments were to create and implement a similar program, or better yet a broader program supporting a wider array of people — particularly adults age 18 to 64.
It is towards such ends that the Lanark Basic Income Network (LBIN) is dedicated. Founded in 2023, LBIN is building awareness of and public and political support for basic income. Some such programs already exist in Canada (e.g., Canada Child Benefit, Guaranteed Income Supplement for seniors) but are lacking, in particular, for adults aged 18–64.
To date, nearly 300 people from across Lanark County have signed up with LBIN as basic income supporters, and 20 organizations have endorsed LBIN’s Statement of Principles about basic income. They include the Canadian Federation of University Women, Perth & District; Family and Children Services of Lanark, Leeds and Grenville; Lanark County Community Justice; The Hunger Stop; Rideau Community Health Services; and The Table Community Food Centre.
Basic Income Community Event
On May 21 at Hanley Hall in Smiths Falls (30 McGill Street N, doors open at 6:30pm), LBIN will hold its latest public event — a dynamic roundtable featuring Senator Kim Pate, Sheila Regehr (Chair of Basic Income Canada Network), Smiths Falls Mayor Shawn Pankow, Elle Halladay (Executive Director of Cornerstone Landing Youth Services), and Ashley Saunders (Falls Food Hub Program Lead for The Table).
“Basic Income: Perspectives from the Front Lines” will a great opportunity to gain a national to local perspective on basic income, to explore the difference a livable basic income guarantee could make for the people of our community — including “starving” artists — and to become engaged in the Canadian movement for basic income. Admission is free but registration is encouraged at eventbrite.com.
For more information on the Lanark Basic Income Network, please visit lanarkbasicincome.ca, and find us on Facebook and Instagram.
