Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi called for "brave steps" in the fight against inequality and vowed to take leadership on pushing for a basic income guarantee.

Speaking to a National Poverty Reduction Summit in Ottawa on May 7, Nenshi told a capacity crowd that it's up to Canada's mayors to take leadership on important issues, like reducing poverty.

"The frustrating thing is that we know what the answers are."

Feeding hungry Canadians with donated, surplus food is a practice that was imported in the early 1980s from the USA and has become the primary task of charitable food banks. Yet, "food charity," supported by the food industry and corporate social responsibility, does not work.

Framing food insecurity as a matter of charity is ineffective and ethically challengeable. It also disguises the true extent and causes of food insecurity, namely income poverty and underemployment. Furthermore, it stigmatizes low-income individuals and undermines their human right to adequate food and nutrition. Government looks the other way. Public policy is neglected.

Across the country, momentum is building around policies and initiatives that can create better health, better equality, and positive differences in the lives of Canadians living on low incomes. Here are some back-of-the-napkin reminders we jotted down at recent Maytree Foundation, Tamarack Institute, and Ontario Public Health Association conferences that we wanted to share with you.

Canadians have a deep sense of decency and our conversation on May 1 at the "Decent Lives" community forum conveyed the same sentiment in our local community "Everyone deserves to live a decent life". People recognize decency and will support the collective stewardship of our shared resources to invest in healthy communities that create opportunities for everyone. Hear what our guests, Marvyn Novick and Peter Clutterbuck, offered for discussion and read how residents of Kitchener-Waterloo responded.

New studies from the OECD and the United Way of Toronto are exposing how precarious work is hurting economies and blocking opportunity for an entire generation of young people.

Among temporary workers, close to half are under age 30 and almost 40 per cent of young workers in the OECD are in non-standard work, such as contract or temporary work, or involuntary part-time employment.

Opportunity to move out of low-wage, insecure employment as workers get older is becoming increasingly limited, the OECD found. Fewer than half of people on temporary contracts were able to transition to full-time work within a three-year period, it found.

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