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Earlier this week, the Dignity for All campaign for a poverty-free Canada hosted a public forum on poverty entitled “What’s Next? How do we Address Poverty in Canada?” at the Government Conference Centre in Ottawa.

The event was attended by over 130 people, with many more watching online via our live feed. The crowd included a significant number of parliamentarians (representing all parties), social organizations, and members of the public, including those living in poverty. The evening was marked by a spirit of cooperation and collaboration as participants signaled a strong desire for finding a way forward and making progress against poverty.

The all-party panel established consensus on three major points:

1. Poverty in Canada urgently needs to be addressed by all levels of government – federal, provincial, municipal, and Aboriginal – as well as civil society and the private sector.
2. We need to work together - i.e. across party lines - and in a non-partisan fashion to identify and implement concrete, achievable measures to ending poverty with broad appeal and support
3. Continued and intentional dialogue at the federal level should be a priority over the short to medium-term, potentially through the establishment of an all-party taskforce on poverty.

We believe these outcomes represent significant steps forward in the fight against poverty. The Dignity for All campaign will be hard at work over the coming weeks and months to build on the momentum of this event and establish a constructive, cross-party dialogue for solving poverty. A real opportunity for progress against poverty exists; we'll be sure to keep you posted as things unfold.

Thank-you to all those who attended and who made the event possible. We'd especially like to thank our panelists for the evening: Jean Crowder (NDP), Senator Jane Cordy (Liberal), Leilani Farha (Dignity for All), Jean-François Fortin (Bloc Québécois), Elizabeth May (Green Party), Senator Don Meredith (Conservative), Harriett McLachlan (Canada Without Poverty), and our moderator, John Ibbitson.

A video of the evening is available at www.dignityforall.ca