Liberal Leader Stephane Dion says his party would cut the number of Canadians living in poverty by 30 per cent over five years if they form the next government.
A federal Liberal government would also cut the number of children living in poverty by half in that same period, he said Friday during a speech in Toronto.
Of the 3.4 million Canadians living below the poverty line, Dion said 788,000 of those are children, and 242,000 of them seniors.
He said the Conservative government is "deaf" to the chorus of voices across Canada pleading for help.
"Poverty today is a reality that mocks and undermines the prosperity known by most of our people in Canada," Dion said.
"The Conservative Party ideology leaves no room for the vulnerable -- for low-income families, or newcomers to Canada, or Aboriginal peoples, or the disabled. The Conservative thinking is: 'if you aren't going to vote Conservative anyway, why should I worry about you?'"
In a speech in Toronto on Wednesday, Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper pushed his government's tax cut agenda.
He said the poverty rate in Canada has fallen from 16 per cent in 1996 to 11 per cent in 2005.
Dion agreed with those figures on Friday, but added: "But today the number is 3.4 million, and 3.4 million Canadians living in poverty is just not right!"
The Liberal leader did not reveal a lot of details on how he would carry out his plan, but he did say the Liberals would raise the working income tax benefit.
Monte Solberg, the Minister of Human Resources and Social Development, says Dion is making promises without having a plan.
"He is obliged, I think, to explain to people exactly how he would get to that point, how much money it would cost, and until he does that he has absolutely no credibility on this issue," Solberg told CTV's Mike Duffy Live on Friday.
He said the Tories have reduced poverty rates by creating jobs and new initiatives to help people get into the workforce.
Harper noted that the Liberals would have to either hike taxes or run deficits to afford their expensive campaign promises.
Dion told reporters after his speech that the cost of the plan would be revealed during the next election.
"It will be fully affordable ... it's a matter of political will. We'll provide the political will and vision," he said.
Dion cited the government of former British prime minister Tony Blair for inspiration.
A Liberal government would use the following tools to fight poverty at the federal level:
Creating a Making Work Pay Benefit, which Dion said would be stronger than the Tories' Working Income Tax Benefit;
Increase income support for families with children in poverty; and
Boosting the Guaranteed Income Supplement payments for the lowest-income seniors
"Housing and universal child care are critical foundations of opportunity for low-income Canadians. Our plan will address the issues of homelessness, affordable housing and universal child care," Dion said in his speech.
To help natives, he committed to honouring the promises of the Kelowna Accord, a $5-billion program scuttled by the Tories.
