Activists lead public discussion on environmental sustainability and basic income
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 11, 2018
[MONTREAL] In light of the Ontario government’s decision to cancel the basic income pilot, a grassroots feminist group will host a second panel discussion on October 17th for the UN Day to Eradicate Poverty. This year, their conversation centers on the connection between economic security and environmental sustainability.
The free public panel will feature Cathy Orlando of the Citizen’s Climate Lobby, Rob Rainer of Basic Income Network Canada, as well as Nlaka’pamux and Diné feminist Cherry Smiley. The panel, organized by Sarah Mah and Thao Hoang of Asian Women for Equality, will also include input from community and academic groups, including Climate Justice Montreal, McGill’s Sustainability Research Symposium, and Revenu de Base Quebec.
"In 2007, I was seven months pregnant when I heard the conclusions of the fourth report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,” recalls Cathy Orlando. “I feared for my daughters' futures. This week, the IPCC and the Nobel Committee have made clarion calls for carbon pricing. With carbon fee and dividend, we can reduce inequality, protect women and children and cut emissions. It is that simple.”
“The most harmful industries today are the most profitable, while life-sustaining work is often unpaid,” remarks organizer Sarah Mah. “The most impoverished will be the first to feel the consequences of climate change, and the 33 deaths in the heatwave across Quebec this year is an example of that. Now is the time to get frontline groups, feminists, academics, and activists to the table.”
Rob Rainer focuses on the promise that basic income holds for society and the environment. "Were it to be fully implemented, basic income would provide the foundation of economic security to enable many more people to engage in action for sustainability, including participating in the monitoring of environmental and ecosystem health, and in ecological restoration of many kinds."
Guaranteed Livable Income and Sustainable Futures will take place on Wednesday, October 17, 2018 at la Maison du développement durable (the Center for Sustainable Development). Tickets are free by RSVP. Doors open at 6:30 PM. Speakers begin at 7:00 PM.
Location: la Maison du développement durable, 50 Saint-Catherine Street West (Clark Room)
Montreal, QC H2X 3V4
Date: Wednesday, October 17, 2018
Time: 7:00-9:00 PM Doors Open at 6:30 pm
Event is free. RSVP: http://guaranteedlivableincome2018.eventbrite.ca
Simultaneous English/French interpretation available. Wheelchair accessible.