Dear Editor:

Basic income guarantee (BIG) has recently become a topic of intense discussion and debate throughout Canada, fueled in part by the COVID pandemic. The pandemic has spot-lighted obvious gaps and inequities in Canada’s social support systems.

But Mi’kmaw First Nations communities were aware of the inequities that exist in Canada long before the pandemic. The destructive impacts of colonial and racist policies and practices on traditional economies and the health and well-being of Indigenous people is well-understood.

This harmful legacy has resulted in much higher poverty rates in First Nations, Inuit and Metis communities compared to the general Canadian population, further damaging the physical and mental well-being of individuals. People who live in poverty are often also inadequately housed, poorly nourished, have more difficulty accessing health care, and face barriers to education and employment. People living in poverty more often experience chronic diseases and premature death.

And poverty is expensive for society: public healthcare costs for the poorest one-fifth of Nova Scotians, for example, are nearly twice as high as for the wealthiest one-fifth.

A BIG would help address the inequities Indigenous people face. The Commission on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls recognized this and made two recommendations for a BIG in the calls for action in their final report: implement a BIG for all Canadians i ...