Critical Conversations: Universal Basic Income

Andy Stern, Evelyn Forget, Sheila Regehr and Nadine Yousif

Critical Conversations: Universal Basic Income

Andy Stern, Evelyn Forget, Sheila Regehr and Nadine Yousif

7:30pm

Thursday, October 29, 2020

60 mins

Authors in candid, live conversation reflect on the topics that matter most during this unprecedented time. In this presentation, authors and experts discuss the case for universal basic income. Even before the job displacement effects of COVID-19, wage and salary income has become less reliable, fueling the case for a citizen wage. From worker rights to social protections, and much more, this discussion will explore the implications—and questions—of a universal basic income strategy. Tune in each day of the Festival to hear new speakers in critical conversation about the topics shaping today’s new world.

Featuring panelists: Evelyn Forget, Sheila Regehr and Andy Stern

Moderator: Nadine Yousif

English captioning is available for this video. Please click the ‘CC’ button in the video toolbar to turn it on.

Authors in candid, live conversation reflect on the topics that matter most during this unprecedented time. In this presentation, authors and experts discuss the case for universal basic income. Even before the job displacement effects of COVID-19, wage and salary income has become less reliable, fueling the case for a citizen wage. From worker rights to social protections, and much more, this discussion will explore the implications—and questions—of a universal basic income strategy. Tune in each day of the Festival to hear new speakers in critical conversation about the topics shaping today’s new world.

Featuring panelists: Evelyn Forget, Sheila Regehr and Andy Stern

Moderator: Nadine Yousif

English captioning is available for this video. Please click the ‘CC’ button in the video toolbar to turn it on.

Featured Authors

Andy Stern
Andy Stern is a senior fellow at Columbia University’s Richard Paul Richman Center for Business, Law, and Public Policy. He was formerly president of the 2.2 million-member Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the union of hospital, health-care, nursing-home, food-service, home-care, janitorial, and public employees. SEIU played a major role in getting Barack Obama elected President of the United States in 2008, and it also is credited with being the driving force behind securing passage of the 2010 Affordable Care Act. Stern was one of five Presidential appointees to the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (Simpson-Bowles), where he authored a minority report on deficit reduction and promoting economic growth.

Read more about Andy Stern

Evelyn Forget
Evelyn L. Forget is a Professor of Economics and Community Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba. Her research examines the health and social implications of poverty and inequality, and she is often called upon by governments, First Nations and international organizations to advise on poverty, inequality, health and social outcomes. Her most recent book is Basic Income for Canadians: From the COVID-19 Emergency to Financial Security for All.

Read more about Evelyn Forget

Sheila Regehr
Sheila Regehr is a founding member of the Basic Income Canada Network and Chairperson since 2014. She is a former Executive Director of the National Council of Welfare. Her 29 years of federal public service spanned front-line work, policy analysis and development, international relations and senior management. She has expertise in areas of income security policy and taxation, with a focus on gender equality and race in particular. She is co-author, with Chandra Pasma, of Basic Income: Some Policy Options for Canada (2019). 

Read more about Sheila Regehr

Nadine Yousif
Nadine Yousif is a Toronto Star journalist, primarily covering the effects of COVID-19 on Canadians’ mental health and well-being. Previously, she has worked as a health and provincial affairs reporter for the Toronto Star in Edmonton, Alberta and as a Western Canada correspondent for Maclean’s. She has covered a variety of important social issues in Canada, like the opioid crisis in Alberta and the plight of Syrian refugees across the country. At Maclean’s, she covered January’s Iran plane crash, the Wet'suwet'en pipeline blockades in British Columbia and how COVID-19 is changing attitudes of Canadians on topics like Universal Basic Income.

Read more about Nadine Yousif

7:30pm

Thursday, October 29

60 mins

What to read

Raising the Floor: How a Universal Basic Income Can Renew Our Economy and Rebuild the American Dream by , Basic Income for Canadians: From the COVID-19 Emergency to Financial Security for All by ,
To top