NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is calling on the federal government to pick up the tab to continue a basic income pilot project scrapped by Ontario Premier Doug Ford.
The $150-million, three-year project was initiated by the province’s previous Liberal government.
But Ford announced last summer that his Conservative government will end the project in March, a year ahead of schedule.
READ MORE: 4 Ontario mayors asking feds to take over basic income pilot
Singh says the premature end of the pilot will make it impossible to amass enough data to determine how effective a basic income program could be in lifting Canadians out of poverty.
He says vital information will be lost and it leaves the four-thousand Ontarians involved in the pilot project in the lurch.
The pilot project provides payments to low-income people in a number of communities, including Hamilton, Brantford, Thunder Bay and Lindsay.
WATCH: Lindsay reels after learning the basic income pilot project is cancelled early
Single individuals receive up to $16,989 a year while couples receive up to $24,027 – with 50 cents clawed back from the benefit for every dollar earned from a job.
Singh says it’s morally reprehensible to abandon those who made life plans and decisions based on a three-year pilot project.