An economy that doesn’t include everybody, that doesn’t pave the way for all people to do justice and walk humbly with God, is a waste of time as far as economist Armine Yalnizyan is concerned.

“The one per cent needs the 99 per cent,” said Yalnizyan. “It’s the 100 per cent that creates the wealth. There’s not one person in the one per cent who can create wealth without the other 99 per cent.”

Yalnizyan warned the room full of 200 rabbis, priests, ministers and imams not to shy away from the political implications of working for a just economy.

“You need to speak out about these things. It can’t be just economists observing what is happening,” she said. “There’s a real temptation to think that faith should be more spiritual than political. It’s up to us to challenge why the system serves so few of us.”

Yalnizyan cited Pope Francis as an example of a faith leader unafraid of talking about economics.

It was the second year that faith leaders have taken over council chambers to tackle local issues in a one-day “Faith In The City” conference. Last year’s gathering led to 300 faith leaders’ signatures opposed to bringing a casino into the city.

“We’re not an interfaith dialogue organization. We’re about interfaith action,” said Fairlawn Avenue United Church minister Christopher White.

This year the goal is to spawn a series of smaller-scale faith conferences on the economy in different neighbourhoods across Toronto, White said.

The faith leaders spent the day discussing immigration, poverty, unemployment and the growing income gap, trying to piece together local responses to big economic problems.

Yalnizyan told them to go beyond the usual soup kitchen and charity response.