Day 5 on the Federal Election Trail:
Liberals
The Liberals say if they are re-elected, they will spend $9 billion to address shortfalls in the long-term care sector.
Speaking in Victoria, B.C., on Thursday, Justin Trudeau said the pandemic highlighted the “unacceptable and heartbreaking” conditions in too many long-term care homes.
“Seniors, families, you’re right. You deserve so much better than what we saw in too many places across the country,” said the Liberal leader.
Ottawa deployed the Canadian Armed Forces to several long-term care homes at the request of provinces and territories to help deal with the pandemic.
“It shouldn’t take a crisis like this to highlight what, unfortunately, too many people have known for too long. That we’re not doing a good enough job everywhere across the country to support our seniors and our loved ones,” said Trudeau.
Trudeau said the Liberals would train up to 50,000 new personal support workers so workers no longer have to do “endless overtime shifts.”
The party would also work with provinces and territories to increase the minimum wage for personal support workers to at least $25 an hour, he said.
According to Trudeau, the funding would also allow them to create more long-term care beds, improve facilities, and increase infection prevention.
“It’s clear to everyone in the field and to families that have loved ones they worry about that the conditions of work in long-term care become the conditions of care for our seniors,” said Trudeau.
Update on Afghanistan
The Liberal leader also provided an update on the country’s efforts to evacuate Canadians, Afghan nationals, and their families from Afghanistan.
Trudeau said Canadian Armed Forces assets and personnel have arrived on the ground to coordinate on a tactical level with the United States and allied partners.
“Two Canadian Armed Forces C-17s will be making regular flights into Kabul to support evacuation efforts,” he said.
Trudeau said he met virtually on Wednesday with members of the Afghan-Canadian community and told them they would do whatever it takes to support them.
The leader noted the “heartbreaking” images which have come out of the country in recent days following a takeover by the Taliban.
“We will continue our efforts at evacuations and I know that Canadians from coast to coast to coast will step up to support Afghans and to support resettlement, welcoming people who will build better lives not just for themselves but for all of us here in Canada.”
NDP
The NDP is promising a $250-million fund to help train and hire 2,000 nurses across the country.
Jagmeet Singh made the announcement Thursday in Alberta — a province that has faced recent health care cuts.
“For years and years, federal governments have been cutting health care as well. The Conservatives cut health care, and then Trudeau kept in those same cuts,” Singh told reporters.
“These are the workers that we trust our lives with and they simply don’t have the resources to do their job because governments are cutting the care they need. It does not have to be this way.”
Singh said the NDP would ensure that provinces also commit funding specifically for health care workers.
He was asked by a reporter how the party would do that since health care is a provincial responsibility.
“We wanted to be really clear that if a province wants to invest in health care, we will be there,” said Singh. “If a province wants to invest more for front-line health care workers, we will be partners and work together with provinces and territories to deliver that.”
Singh said this election is a choice between continued cuts or stronger health care.
Conservatives
Kickstart the building of a million homes in the next three years.
That pledge came from Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole in Ottawa Thursday as he presented his solutions to tackle the housing crisis.
If he’s elected as Prime Minister, O’Toole is promising homes for Canadians looking to buy.
“We will ban foreign investors from purchasing homes here if they don’t intend to live in or move to Canada,” explains O’ Toole. “If people around the world want to invest in our great country, and I want that, we will instead encourage them to invest in purpose built rental housing to provide more affordable housing for Canadians.”
The Leader says foreign investors are putting up barriers for young families and retired people looking to downsize.
When explaining the million homes, three year plan, O’Toole noted that part of this could be done by repurposing government buildings, specifically releasing 15 per cent of government properties into the housing market.
Another part of the Conservative housing plan looks at ensuring Canadians live in accessible communities.
“It’s time to focus on transit oriented development, and ensuring that we build homes and increase density near transit,” says O’ Toole. “We need to invest in transit and get this country moving after 15 very difficult months.”
(Files from Brad Perry and Vasilios Bellos)
