There was a funny coincidence on a sunny Wednesday in August.

Two former Ontario Liberal cabinet ministers unveiled their support for a basic income, one in a policy paper, the other in an essay in a high-brow Toronto magazine.

Both are friends of mine.  In the interests of full disclosure, I've advised both.

They also couldn't be more different: Glen Murray is a mile-a-minute, one-man think tank.  He's openly gay, the former Mayor of Winnipeg, emotional and unafraid to be.  Michael Coteau is more a gentle giant, a shoe-leather, retail politician.

Murray, for his part, is bringing new standing and media interest to the federal Green Party, as a frontrunner in their leadership race.  Coteau, for his, has emerged as the thought leader and centre of gravity in the Ontario Liberal Party, having come in second in the leadership race earlier this spring.

Coteau's piece on basic income is philosophical.  Murray's policy paper on basic income is prescriptive, outlining a series of targeted supports to create a "guaranteed liveable income" floor.

In his essay, Coteau points out the obvious: "We need a long-term, national basic income project in Canada.  And effectively, we've had one since March, when the federal Liberals implemented the Canada Emergency Response Benefit.  With some 8.4 million workers receiving CERB, millions of parents receiving the Canada Child Benefit, millions of seniors receiving a public pension, plus some 1.2 million Canadians on social assistance, the overwhelming majority of Canadian adults are now receiving some form of monthly government support".

He goes on to say, "CERB has been monumentally successful, and it's proved that basic income works.  It has stabilized the economy and prevented the worst-case scenario of a full economic collapse this spring.  A basic income provides a slab of granite beneath every household income, and it keeps consumers consuming."

Murray also grounds his "program" in the pandemic, saying in a press conference, "I put this out there to start a positive conversation, because CERB is not sustainable for three or four years.  I don't want Canada to have a Thelma and Louise moment where we go over the cliff together".

Murray further suggests, "Canada's lowest income citizens are long overdue for real support as the pandemic-driven economic slowdown has shown.  In a wealthy country such as Canada, failing to eliminate poverty is a policy choice.  It should not be optional; Canada needs to fix it".

Both former provincial Liberal ministers put the onus on the federal government, with Murray saying, "The federal government can take this.  This isn't about politics, this is about Canadians.  Nothing would make me happier than if Chrystia Freeland picks this up, phones me next week and says, 'Read it, great.  It's in the budget.’"

Coteau, likewise, argues, "A national basic income, designed correctly, could renew our social contract, restoring the notion that the government must support its citizens.  That's part of the bargain at the heart of our society."

Taken together, the two political leaders represent two of the most prominent voices calling on the government to seize the opportunity to create a basic income as a response to the precarity in our society and from the pandemic.

With a second wave representing the spectre haunting any plan going past September, the need for stability and clarity is critical.  Rather than convoluted contortions to the EI system, rather than overly complex policies that require a guidebook to navigate the Trudeau Liberals should transform the CERB into a basic income.

That is the right legacy to come out of this terrible time, much like income tax came from World War One.