The Quebec government has unveiled a six-year plan, including investments of nearly $3 billion, to reduce poverty. In a release published this afternoon, the Premier's office stated that the goal of the plan is to permanently lift over 100,000 people above the poverty line by the year 2023.
A key element of the plan, as was reported earlier in the day by the Canadian Press's French-language service, is to "improve the disposable income" of people who cannot find work, to the tune of around 40% -- the figure is slightly higher for individuals and slightly lower for couples without children. The province says this is a "significant first step" towards the establishment of a full basic-income program, but that for now it will only apply to people who receive social solidarity payments because they are unable to work. By 2023, those people will see their annual benefit jump from $12,749 to $18,029 -- that will put them just over the poverty line.
Much of the rest of the plan aims to get people who can work but do not back into the workforce. People in this category are not eligible for the increased benefits.
That's attracting criticism from anti-poverty activists, who say the Liberal government's plan creates "two classes of poor."