In this webinar, we will explore the transformative potential of Basic Income (BI) as a solution to intersecting challenges like poverty, health, food security, climate change, and more. Our speakers will highlight insights from the Basic Income Guarantee Forum Report and provide an example of how advocating for Basic Income can complement other community-level work to get to broader, more sustainable change.
What to expect:
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Insights from the Basic Income Guarantee Forum Report
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A spotlight on work happening in Newfoundland to advance Basic Income
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Information on what’s needed from advocates to help advance Basic Income locally and nationally
- Time for a Q&A
Speakers
Sheila Regehr, founding member of the Basic Income Canada Network, former Executive Director of the National Council of Welfare
Sheila Regehr (she/her) is a founding member of the Basic Income Canada Network, its chair since 2014, and former Executive Director of the National Council of Welfare. She was on the National Advisory Committee of the federal Tackling Poverty Together Project, and is co-author, with Chandra Pasma, of Basic Income: Some Policy Options for Canada (2019). Her BICN work has also included co-organizing North American and international congresses, the Green Resilience Project, the Signposts to Success survey of Ontario pilot recipients, and the Canadian BIG Forum in 2024. She is a recipient of the Dr. John Rook Leadership Award for Poverty Reduction from The Canadian Poverty Institute. Sheila’s volunteer work builds on her former public service career in income security policy and federal/provincial/territorial relations.
Tracy Smith-Carrier, PhD, MSW, BEd, BA (Hons), Associate Professor, Canada Research Chair, Advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals
Tracy Smith-Carrier (she/her) is a (full) professor and the Canada Research Chair in Advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals in the School of Humanitarian Studies at Royal Roads University in Victoria, British Columbia. Dr. Smith-Carrier’s program of research touches upon many different fields in the social policy arena, including access to income and food security, social assistance receipt, health equity, basic income, and climate justice. Tracy is an adjunct research professor at the Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing at Western University, a research affiliate at the Centre for Human Rights Research at the University of Manitoba, chair of the National Strategic Planning Committee for a Basic Income Guarantee, and editor of the Taylor & Francis journal Critical Policy Studies.
Joshua Smee, CEO, Food First NL
Joshua Smee (he/him) is the CEO of Food First NL, a provincial nonprofit organization that works with communities in Newfoundland & Labrador to ensure everyone has access to affordable, healthy, and culturally appropriate food.
Passionate about systems change and the power of collective action, Joshua has taken a lead role in many coalitions and campaigns. He co-chairs the provincial Food Security Working Group with the Government of NL and sat on the province's Health Accord Task Force.
Outside of work, Joshua sits on many boards and committees and has been heavily engaged in work around civic engagement, local food, and the arts.
Natasha Pei, Director, Communities Ending Poverty, Tamarack Institute
Natasha (she/her) is passionate about justice and equity and has 13 years experience as a community developer in Canada and China. Natasha employs a structural lens to analyze and address social issues and believes in the power of place-based, community-led systems change.
For the last eight years she has supported Tamarack's network of communities seeking to end poverty in Canada, including facilitating shared learning and building momentum around issues such as Living Wage and Basic Income. Natasha now brings a variety of experience to the Learning Centre, having supported members across Canada to use a Collective Impact approach in their planning, to deepen and broaden their engagement with community members, to develop structures and new ways of thinking about collaborative leadership, and to evaluate and communicate the impact of their collaborative.
Natasha is a Registered Social Worker, holding a Master of Social Work and Bachelor of Social Work degree from Carleton University.
Other hats Natasha wears includes volunteer of local dog rescue and events, neighbourhood organizer, and climbing enthusiast.