For Immediate Release
15 December, 2023
The Leader of Newfoundland and Labrador’s NDP, Jim Dinn (St. John’s Centre), is demanding the government complete the work of the legislative committee on a Guaranteed Basic Liveable Income and prioritize resources in budget 2024. Earlier this week, Dinn reached out to the Minister asking for a status update and received no response.
“Poverty is an income issue. Government could have been well on its way to putting solutions on the table that would bring long lasting relief to families, instead they chose to put their focus elsewhere,” said Dinn. “We have all been hearing the stories about how food bank use has increased significantly because families are struggling to make ends meet. It’s unacceptable for the government not to use this committee for what it was intended to achieve, and that was to provide sustainable long-term solutions to the cost of living crisis happening across the province.”
Dinn is concerned that the government has lost the political will to explore solutions in spite of having previous commitments from cabinet Ministers. The committee was supposed to deliver a preliminary report to the House of Assembly before the end of the fall sitting. This did not happen.
“I am concerned the department and government have lost the political will to see the work of the committee through and can only assume the possibility of having guaranteed basic income as part of the 2024 budget greatly diminished,” said Dinn. “Government has a real opportunity here to bring relief to people, increase household incomes, and allow people to afford to live. Let’s get on with it. Finish the work of the committee so we can make recommendations in time to be included in budget 2024.”
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For further information, contact Eddy St. Coeur, Director of Communications, NDP Caucus at 729-2137 (o), or eddystcoeur@gov.nl.ca