Yukoners, Canadians, need to push for a basic annual income for all Canadians, says Yukon Senator Pat Duncan.

Duncan was among those who spoke at Wednesday afternoon’s rally in downtown Whitehorse organized by the Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition.

Others who spoke included a couple of people who have lived in poverty, who have relied on the social system for income support but who detest having to go hat-in-hand to social agencies and bureaucrats “and beg” for support.

Duncan, an independent senator, is among 51 senators who wrote the prime minister last year about COVID-19 and the need for a minimum basic income.

When she was approached by Senator Kim Pate about signing the letter, the doors opened into the issue of poverty and the need for a basic annual income, Duncan told the estimated 40 people gathered around the totem pole along Front Street.

“Overwhelmingly, the reality that too many Canadian children and families live in poverty convinced me that a basic income guarantee is a sound policy option to change this reality,” said Duncan, who was the territory’s Liberal premier from 2000 to 2002.

Duncan said there are many issues with the social assistance program, such as penalizing those who work to get out of the system, clawing back any extra income earned and requiring ongoing reporting.

A basic income level for all Canadians would be unconditional, and does not require a person to be managed by the bureaucracy or have a caseworker for each decision, she said.

The senator told the gathering pilot projects have demonstrated that a basic income allows parents to stay home and care for their children or go back to school. It can provide time for other endeavours such as volunteer work.

Establishing the individual needs for a basic income could be done through the Canada Revenue Agency and the annual income tax submissions, she said.

By using the income tax system, said the senator, the same rules apply to everyone.

The programs would be universal, and everyone in Canada would be eligible.

They also addressed the concern that providing a basic income would encourage people to stay home and not go to work, but a pilot project in Ontario showed that is just not the case, she said.

Several of those attending the rally carried signs aimed at stopping poverty.

“Say no to poverty, yes to basic income,” read one sign.

“Basic Income is good for everyone.”

“Make poverty history – equal rights.”

Viola Papaquash and her Rising Sun singers performed both the opening and closing songs.

Some of the Yukon candidates in Monday’s federal election were at the rally.

MC Charlotte Hrenchuk, a co-chair of the anti-poverty coalition, shared a few thoughts.

The coalition, she said, believes a basic guaranteed income can make a substantial impact in the lives of many, including women, Indigenous communities, people of colour and people with disabilities.

Hrenchuk said a basic annual income is not about charity. Rather, it’s about human rights and freedoms to participate in the Yukon community fully and securely.

Ulrike Wohlfarth Levins shared her story of poverty with those in attendance.

She said the last five years have been hell, just like the hell before that.

Last year, said Wohlfarth Levins, both her parents passed away within 5 1/2 weeks of each other.

“In the past five years, if I would have had a basic annual income, I would have had more energy to take care of my parents,” she said.

Wohlfarth Levins said she would not have been evicted from two hotels. She would not have been evicted from the women’s shelter.

She said she would not have had to beg a social worker for support in securing accommodations.

It’s her good faith and hope for the future of her grandchildren that help her through, she said.

Wohlfarth Levins said even $400 or $500 a month would do incredible things.

“I would be able to buy shoes and underwear that do not have holes in them,” she said.

She said a basic annual income is extremely important to her.

Shawn Bruce of Old Crow told the gathering a basic income level is essential for the health of the community.

The Vuntut Gwitchin have always lived off the land and the river, he said.

Now, he said, they can’t fish the river like they used to. They can’t set their nets like they used to because the Department of Fisheries and Oceans won’t let them. They can’t hunt the moose and caribou like they used to.

They can’t feed their children like they used to, he said.

Bruce said a bag of flour in Old Crow is $95, and a bag of sugar goes for $100, and you can’t buy vegetables.

“I really do not want my children to go hungry,” he told the gathering. “We need to work together to make sure all your children do not go hungry.”

Jane Wilkinson said since losing her job three years and eight months ago, she’s been relying on the social support system.

First it was the loss of her job, and then the COVID-19 pandemic set in, she said.

Wilkinson said it can be humiliating to go through the system.

At one point, she said, she painted, “I need help” in big red letters on her window.

“I am here to tell you that it is a whole lot easier to fall through the cracks than you might think,” Wilkinson said.

The Yukon’s senator told the gathering the concept of a basic income level for Canadians is not new; that it goes back decades.

A basic income guarantee was referenced in the 1970 Royal Commission on the Status of Women, she pointed out.

Duncan noted that establishing a guaranteed livable income for all Canadians, including Indigenous people, was recommended in the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Calls for Justice.

There was, she said, a pilot project carried out in Dauphin, Man., from 1974 to 1978.

It showed that there was an 8.5-per-cent decrease in hospitalizations.

Better health outcomes were realized when individuals had the certainty of income to purchase healthy foods, Duncan said.

She said a basic income level is not a magic pill that will cure all.

But it is a policy option that has been discussed and tentatively tried in Canada for quite some time, she said.

“Is it worth exploring to see if it would work in the Yukon and Canada. I believe it is.”