I was part of a beautiful little community, but because of lack of resources and employment, I had to move to the city. If I'd had a GLI, that money would have gone directly gone back into the community. It would have given me security and stability.   I could have kept my home, my half-acre of land that I raised garden produce on. It would have given me a better lifestyle if I could have stayed there. I would have remained an integral part of my community.

  I was one of the people that the elderly people relied on. There were 24 widows, living in alone their own homes for sometimes 30 years until they died in their 80's or 90's. They were on a guaranteed income, so they were able to hire younger people to help them stay in their homes. That gave us work, and they relied on younger people like me to keep their houses clean, to put their gardens in, to help them with their daily living. But there was not enough work for a stable income. That's a great service that you provide, but you can't make a living off it because they are living on a fixed income, too. There were paid homemakers, but that was cut back, and a lot had to leave because there was no income.   I also had other seasonal jobs. If I could have had my living topped up during the winter, I could have remained in my community. It was a healthy place to live. I knew all the young people, the old people, the babies. I babysat two boys after school for a single mother. You don't mind working for $8 an hour if you have some way at the end of the year to know that your income will have some balance to it. I saw a lot of people leave the community because they didn't have a stable income. Young people could settle there because a house is $50,000. Your house is inexpensive, but you are always looking for work. People struggle. They are subsistent, have their own gardens and live off the land a bit, help each other out, and somehow they make it through.

But why do we stress people to the point of breaking? Why don't we stabilize our economy everywhere by a GLI? We could stabilize people in the countryside and not have everybody move to the cities. When does Victoria reach its breaking point and cities start gobbling up agricultural land? I had a beautiful home and beautiful garden. It took me 10 years to build it up and then I had to leave it because I couldn't afford to stay there and maintain it. It would have been nice to have stability and stay there, be part of my community and encourage other people to come there too. I sold food; I had so much of it on just a half acre. I made about $2,000 a year out of my garden, but that was not enough to live on, even though my mortgage was paid because I built my own house. I needed at least $800 a month for electricity, taxes, insurance, house maintenance, seeds, and paying for a vehicle [even with] car co-ops and sharing of rides. I was always worried, and that wrecks havoc on you physically, mentally and emotionally.

  I was there for 10 years struggling with income, and it made my life stressful, which affects your health. I felt I better leave while I can physically do it. It is a vicious circle. My hope now is to get retrained in something. If I'd had a GLI, I could have stayed and helped a lot of older people that I knew and they would have had quality of life and dignity until their death. Now that I'm gone, they told me they feel the loss.

Are they starving people out of rural areas? A GLI would sure help farmers. Most of them are too proud to take it, but boy, that would sure save their bacon. People are committing suicide over not being able to keep the family farm. In Saskatchewan about 4 years ago farmer suicide was very bad. We need agriculture; they feed us. We especially need to support organic farmers. And if they go down, the big farmers can say, "See, organic farming doesn't work." That's who we need, people who don't want to over fertilize and overspray their crops; people who keep the land alive and produce food that is nutritious. My brother is an organic farmer, but if he goes under, there is one less choice for us to go for organic food. Then big-business farming has another foothold. We have to stop that. A GLI would be a good way. -Kathy

Farms are collapsing. The small farms are all turning into corporate businesses. We don't value the food or the farmer, the rural life or the environment. It is very dangerous-that is the backbone of life. We need the farmers. If we don't help him or her, where are we then? If we don't keep the environment pristine, that will affect our quality of life. We will be drinking dirty water; we already are to a degree, but it will only get worse. -Debie

Urban migration in Mozambique is a big problem. Women leave their young children to go to the city and become maids, live there for six months and get a one-month leave to see their kids. Most of the time the husband will marry a second wife to look after the children. And they might get abused by the person who employs them or end up pregnant, and they will get fired and have to go home pregnant and then that's it. Or they will give birth and go back to the city and leave kids with the grandmother and send money home. Then kids grow up not knowing their real mother. Maybe the women will get HIV and come back home to die, and that is the only time the kids will get to know their mother-when they are taking care of her when she is dying. For the people in the village [in Mozambique], it would benefit a lot. Always people think western things and things found in the city are easy to acquire and they are the best. So people who are very, very poor, their mind is to achieve things faster, because that's what they see from the rich people, from the well-to-do people. Well-to-do people show it doesn't take a lot to achieve these materialist things. It's so easy," Look at me, I have chains made out of gold from Europe. Those are the best, not the beaded things you local people spend hours and hours making. You tire your eyes, your hands beading those things- those things don't have value." They think the things from the west are attractive, easy to achieve, and they are the best. So poor people will leave their villages. If someone is gifted in craft-making, but they don't have tools, they say: "Why should I waste my time here with no proper tools or no electricity?" So they will abandon that because there is no help. She or he will go to the city and get any useless job, and start buying artificial things from the west and bring them back to the village. Then nobody is there to teach them about the old ways, the indigenous ways of making things. And everybody looks at this person, "He was trying to make these crafts and didn't go nowhere; now look at him from the city with fancy things." So who wants to waste time on doing these indigenous things? It is very important to find these people who are gifted in this way, women or men. Especially with women, ask them what do they need to advance in this kind of business. Help them with guaranteed income so they can take their business farther. Promote the business for them, maybe set up a little shop for them. Also, create a job for them to teach the young community to take on after they are gone. They are not supported enough to see the value of what they are doing. -Perpetua

A lot of the moves to the city are fueled by lack of jobs in the country. Even back-to-the-land people reach a point where they have to come back to the city to make money. A GLI would rejuvenate the outlying communities which are really important to maintain our cultural heritage. -Jennifer

GLI would make a difference to where people live. A lot of Aboriginal migration to cities has to do with hoping to find work. -Samantha

People would not have to move from home communities. A GLI would slow or even reverse the rush to cities. In rural areas people can have a higher quality of life for less money. GLI would help Aboriginal kids who flee reserves   -Focus group, Jan. 13, 06

90% of my income goes to my rent. [With a GLI] I think there would be some moving out of the city. People are in the city for the jobs. I'd rather live on the outskirts. -Meshum