Poverty is an issue Canadians care about, and politicians who want our vote need to tell us what they plan to do about it. We came up with five questions we believe will let voters know where the parties stand on the poverty solutions that will make a real difference.

The questions include whether the leaders agree with the four main goals of the Make Poverty History campaign; if they support the UN target of giving 0.7% of Canada's income in foreign aid; whether they would commit to developing a national poverty reduction strategy with measurable goals and a timeline; what they planned to do about First Nations poverty and if they supported the Kelowna Accord or similar plan to alleviate First Nations poverty.

Back in the spring, when we thought an election was imminent, we worked together with the Assembly of First Nations to ask the leaders of the political parties to answer these questions. The Bloc, Green, Liberal and NDP leaders each took the time to sit down and answer our questions on camera. Stephen Harper's office responded that they were not going to answer the questions, as they felt they were too specific.

We were disappointed, as we feel that Canadian voters should hear how politicians who want their vote will deal with the issues they care about.

Maybe you will have better luck: Ask Stephen Harper what he will do to fight poverty