Floyd Marinescu has never forgotten the fear and frustration of growing up in a home scarred by domestic violence.āI always dreamed my mother would just leave,ā said the 39-year-old Toronto businessman. āBut I knew she didnāt have the financial means.āThatās why Marinescu was so keen to see the results of Ontarioās three-year basic income pilot project, launched in 2017 by the previous Liberal government.Not only could basic income address poverty, precarious employment and job loss due to automation and globalization, it could level the playing field for women, says the CEO of C4media, an international software publishing and conference company.When the Ford government pulled the plug on the $150-million experiment in July, claiming jobs ā not cash handouts ā are the answer, Marinescu was ādeeply upsetā and determined to change the narrative.On Thursday, he is releasing an open letter at Queenās Park signed by 100 Canadian CEOs representing more than $1.5 billion in combined annual revenues, urging Premier Doug Ford and Social Services Minister Lisa MacLeod to reverse the decision.Read more:Cancellation of Ontarioās basic income project sparks global outrageāI may end up homeless againā: Six Ontarians talk about their life before, after and, once again, without basic incomeHamilton photographer puts a face to people hurt by cancellation of Ontarioās basic income pilot projectāAs Canadian business leaders ā¦ we see a guaranteed basic income as a business-friendly approach to address the increasing financial precarity of our citizens and revitalize the economy,ā says the letter, co-authored by Paul ValleĆ© of Ottawa-based Pythian, a global data services company with more than 400 employees worldwide.The provinceās basic income pilot project provided low-income individuals in three Ontario communities unconditional cash payments of up to $17,0 ...
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