A group of prominent Ontarians, backed by a network of community organizations (including the Wellesley Institute) has launched the “25-in-5″ poverty reduction campaign at the start of Ontario’s provincial election.

The goal of this non-partisan campaign is to get all political parties contesting Ontario’s provincial election to make two commitments:

First, to adopt a target of reducing the overall number of people living in poverty by 25% over the next five years; and,

Second, to make this a priority of the next Ontario Legislature by setting in place a collaborative process to create a comprehensive poverty-reduction strategy.

Rick Blickstead, Wellesley Institute’s CEO, was at the launch and delivered a powerful call to the business sector to join with community organizations and the provincial government as partners in this campaign.

More details will be posted shortly.