OBIN Coordinating Team
The OBIN Coordinating Team (C-Team) meets regularly to make decisions and implement the members' direction for OBIN. Coordinators and Co-coordinators are elected each year preferably for a two-year term in alternating years (where feasible).
*** Minutes Of The C-Team's Meetings are at obin.ca/c_team_minutes. ***
Current Coordinating Team (C-Team) Members
(click on the link to go to each bio)
Facilitator/Coordinator: Kerry Lubrick
Co-facilitator: position is open
Treasurer: Richard Pommainville
Recording Secretary: Andrew McCann
Promotion and Communications (General)
Co-ordinator: Maya Berger
Co-cordinator: position is open
Internal Relations
Co-ordinator: Wil Robertson
Co-coordinator: position is open
External Relations
Co-ordinator: Caterina Lindman
Co-coordinator: position is open
Special Programs
Co-ordinator: position is open
Co-coordinator: position is open
Technical Team
Website Developer: Saul Bottcher
Web Content Manager: position is open
Arts Community: Craig Berggold
Former Facilitator: Joe Foster
FACILITATOR/COORDINATOR
Kerry Lubrick [email protected]
Kerry is a retired public servant (2020) with more than 30 years of experience in the field of Human Services. Kerry joined the Basic Income Hamilton Steering Committee in 2020. Since that time, she has been active in many Basic Income working groups.
Seeing first hand the inadequacy of social assistance rates in Ontario (and Canada), the numerous sub-systems created to assist those living in poverty, learning about the positive outcomes of the Basic Income Pilots and the impact of the pandemic on those in financial need, it is easy and logical for her to support and advocate for a national basic income program. A basic income would simplify the income security system and provide an adequate level of income.
Kerry has a strong understanding of the social services systems and works towards making positive improvements for the most marginalize people. Kerry also possesses strong administration skills and is committed to seeing a Basic Income come to fruition.
In addition to her volunteer work with Basic Income, she is an active volunteer with the Primates World Relief and Development Fund and the Anglican Church.
Her career highlights include:
- Employment Manager for the City of Hamilton’s Ontario Works Division
- Director for the City of Hamilton’s Employment and Income Support Division
- Advisor to Workforce Planning Hamilton
- Ontario Municipal Social Services Association Board of Directors 2013-2017
Kerry has a Bachelor of Arts (Psychology and Law & Justice) and further credentials in Leadership and Management Studies.
CO-FACILITATOR
position is open
TREASURER
Richard Pommainville [email protected]
Richard is a strong believer that by providing opportunities, we can provide alternatives to certain social and economic disadvantage situations.
Richard is the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of the Catholic Archdiocese of Ottawa-Cornwall. Previously, Richard was Executive Director for the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul for the National Council of Canada. Richard also worked for over 30 years in the Telecommunication equipment provider sector working for Nortel and Ciena.
Richard holds an M.A. in Economics from Carleton University and a B. Math Honors Statistics/Computer Science from the University of Waterloo.
Richard is a director on the Board of the National Association for Charitable Textile Recycling (NACTR). Richard was previously on the Board of directors of the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace (CCODP), holding the position of treasurer, and chair of the Finance and Audit Committee.
Richard has been a mentor with the Ottawa Community Immigrant Services Organization (OCISO) since 2007, and has continued mentoring virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic.
RECORDING SECRETARY
Andrew McCann
Andrew McCann is a "Democracy Activist" in Kingston. He's part of KAGBIG (Kingston Action Group for a Basic Income Guarantee), OBIN, on the board of BICN (Basic Income Canada Network) and has helped spearhead the Basic Income Now campaign. Andrew's first masters was in Agroecology - he worked on sustainable local food for years with an eye to the climate changed future (starting projects such as the Save Our Prison Farm Campaign and a program in Sustainable Local Food). He's come to realise that every human will eventually become an environmentalist, perforce. But he is not sure that democracy will survive our ecological century. We need to fight for it! That's what he's been doing for almost a decade: leading election campaigns and grassroots initiatives.
INTERNAL RELATIONS
Coordinator
Wil Robertson
Wil Robertson holds a BA in Great Books and Political Science from St. Thomas University and is currently pursuing a Masters in Political Management at Carleton University. He is a basic income advocate with Basic Income New Brunswick and Coalition Canada Basic Income. Wil is an analytical thinker, with a passion for promoting the sharing of our truths.
He is proud to further the causes of social acceptance, sustainability, and justice.
EXTERNAL RELATIONS
Coordinator
Caterina Lindman [email protected]
Recently, I joined Basic Income of Waterloo Region. I am enthused about the elegance of Basic Income as a way to ensure that everyone in Canada, (and someday, everyone regardless of nationality), can get their basic needs met. I think that will unleash a lot of human potential that is currently being wasted. As an actuary and as a citizen, I am interested in questions about fairness and financing, and I am convinced that we can implement a Basic Income in Canada (and globally) that practically eliminates poverty while reducing income and wealth inequality.
I am happy to be part of the Co-ordinating Team for the Ontario Basic Income Network, working on Internal Relations. It has been my experience that people in the Basic Income movement are very welcoming, and I look forward to meeting and working with more Basic Income advocates.
I have retired after a 35-year actuarial career with Manulife. While working as an actuary, I helped develop the Actuaries Climate Index, which provides objective scientific data about Climate Change. I also co-founded Actuaries for Sustainable Healthcare, which helps to educate Actuaries and others about the benefits of whole, plant-based foods for preventing and reversing chronic illness. I lead the Kitchener-Waterloo chapter of Citizens’ Climate Lobby. Citizens’ Climate Lobby works for a liveable planet by advocating for effective carbon taxes, with cash going back to citizens.
Albert Einstein once said, “I think the most important question facing humanity is, ‘Is the universe a friendly place?” Basic Income can go a long way to ensuring that the answer is ‘YES!’
PROMOTIONS AND COMMUNICATIONS (GENERAL)
Coordinator
Maya Berger [email protected]
Maya Berger joined OBIN because she believes that every human deserves to live with dignity, security, and autonomy.
Maya worked as an editor, researcher, and editorial manager in the higher education specialist publishing sector for over 10 years before starting her own editorial business in 2016 (https://www.whatimeantosay.com/). She has worn many professional hats, including editorial manager, copyeditor and proofreader for novels and short stories, and university department manager. She edits fiction in many genres, web content, magazine articles, marketing materials, and academic texts.
After completing her Bachelor's degree in English Literature and Philosophy from McGill University, Maya moved from Canada to the UK to complete a Master's of Arts degree in Children's Literature at the University of Reading. She lived and worked in the UK for 13 years before returning to Canada in 2017, and she's currently based in Toronto.
Co-coordinator: position is open
SPECIAL PROGRAMS
Co-ordinator: position is open
Co-coordinator: position is open
TECHNICAL TEAM
Website Developer: Saul Bottcher
Website Content Manager: position is open
ADVISORS
Arts Community
Craig Berggold
Craig is a filmmaker, media artist, teacher and organizer. His award-winning films have been seen at festivals and galleries around the world. He is the lead researcher at The Canadian Farmworkers Union Archive Project at Simon Fraser University. His writings include, “The Colour of Food” and “Canada: Mexico found guilty of blacklisting pro-union migrant workers."
Craig also teaches media production, cultural studies, and labour studies, and is a key organizer for OBIN's basic income and arts campaign. "As a freelancer in the gig economy without benefits, I believe a basic income guarantee will lift up the precarious ensuring financial stability and support the remarkable creative capacity of individuals and a living culture."
Former Facilitator/Coordinator
Joe Foster [email protected]
My career began in Montreal as an Electrical Engineer, followed by 2 years with CUSO in Zambia teaching at the University of Zambia. After completing an MBA at McMaster in International Business and Economics, I worked on multiple assignments overseas through the UN and Canadian government, including in Malaysia, Jamaica, Belize, and Pakistan.
As a volunteer, I worked with several downtown churches in Ottawa to create group housing and with Habitat for Humanity to build a house in El Salvador. Upon retiring, I served as President and then Human Rights Critic of the Green Party of Canada.
All of my past training, work and volunteer experience led to my interest in Basic Income as a solution to the issue of poverty and injustice. However, based on my training in engineering and economics, along with my political experience, I needed to be convinced that Basic Income was grounded on solid evidence, as well as being affordable and politically feasible. I am convinced that all of these conditions are met and that poverty in Canada is inexcusable.
For a stable and secure future, both economically and socially, Canada urgently needs a more enlightened social safety net in the form of a national Basic Income program.