In these harsh economic times, as Canadians fear losing their jobs and homes, does anyone stand for the poor?

It's a question implicitly asked by a coalition of community organizations that released a poverty reduction blueprint this week. Ontarians won't have long to wait for an answer. We'll know when the provincial budget is tabled next month.

Premier Dalton McGuinty understands the need to reduce the incidence of poverty. He unveiled a focused plan to cut child poverty by 25 per cent in five years just two months ago. The question is whether it is enough of a priority for him to address in the budget.

This week's report – from the 25 in 5 Poverty Reduction Network – lays a path for McGuinty to achieve three quarters of the goal by spending $5 billion over two years to beef up welfare and other social supports and build new child-care spaces and social housing units.

Finance Minister Dwight Duncan says "there will be elements in the budget that reflect the poverty agenda." One hopes those "elements" have significant dollar figures attached.

It is important for the Ontario families, including 360,000 children, who are already living in poverty. It is also important for those who have recently lost or soon may lose their jobs, given the inadequacy of Canada's Employment Insurance program.

Finally, it is important for our economy. Spending on poverty is the best form of stimulus because the poor spend every cent they receive on food, clothing and services in the local economy. And report after report has convincingly catalogued just how much keeping people poor costs us all in billions of dollars of increased health, justice and social service costs and lost productivity and tax revenues.

When the government unveiled its 25-in-5 strategy, it didn't make any specific dollar commitments. That gave the government flexibility to put off major investments until the later years.

But it would be a mistake to back-end load the plan. Governments are being urged to ramp up spending in the short term to stimulate the economy and avoid a prolonged recession.

Why not achieve that goal through a poverty program?