Parties keep focus on health, long-term care in Nova Scotia election campaign
Health care remained the most pressing issue on Nova Scotia's campaign trail Thursday, with two of the three major parties highlighting promised improvements for the long-term care sector.
Liberal Leader Iain Rankin visited a long-term care home in Chester, N.S., where he again promised to make the well-being of seniors in care a priority if elected Aug. 17.
The Liberals have previously announced $152.6 million to renovate and replace over 2,000 beds in 24 facilities across the province. In total, the party plans to add 500 additional beds in communities with the greatest demand.
The party is also pledging to reduce to 60 days the average wait times for seniors to get s spot in homes, which is currently around six months.
"For Nova Scotians, who live in long-term care, these are their homes," Rankin said in a statement. "As such, they should be comfortable, efficient, accessible, and modern."
NDP Leader Gary Burrill also discussed long-term care during a stop in Lucasville, just outside Halifax, accusing the Liberals of "eight years of inaction" when it comes to improving the sector.
Burrill said his party would set a minimum standard of 4.1 hours of care a day for each resident, including at least 1.3 hours of nursing care, to ensure consistent, timely care for seniors.
"It's time to pay long-term care workers what they are worth and to create a work environment that allows them to provide the care and support to our seniors," he said in a news release.
During the first televised debate of the campaign on Wednesday, Rankin was forced to defend his party's record on health care. Both Burrill and Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Houston went after the Liberal leader for failing to deal with a chronic physician shortage in the province.
Houston continued to keep his focus on his party's previously released health plan on Thursday, saying the Tories would open operating rooms on weekends in order to help bring down wait times for procedures such as hip and knee surgeries.
Noting that the Canadian Institute for Health Information benchmark standard for hip and knee surgeries is 182 days, he gave the example of people in Kentville, N.S., needing knee surgeries who have to wait more than 1,000 days.
"We need to do more than just shorten the wait list," Houston said in a news release. "Our goal will be to meet the benchmark standards for wait times, within 18 months of being elected."
He said a Tory government will set up a website to track such things as the number and types of surgeries taking place in a day and how each day's numbers affect the wait list.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 29, 2021.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
BREAKING Former Air Canada employees among suspects identified in gold heist at Pearson airport: police
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
Earthquake jolts southern Japan
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 hit southern Japan late on Wednesday, said the Japan Meteorological Agency, without issuing a tsunami warning.
MPs summon ArriveCan contractor to the House to be admonished in rare parliamentary display
Enacting an extraordinarily rarely used parliamentary power, MPs have summoned an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons on Wednesday afternoon to be admonished publicly for failing to answer their questions.
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
Gas prices across Ontario expected to climb to levels not seen since 2022, analyst says
Ontario is going to see a big jump at the pumps later this week as gas prices in the province hit levels not seen in nearly two years, according to one industry analyst.
Ancient skeletons unearthed in France reveal Mafia-style killings
More than 5,500 years ago, two women were tied up and probably buried alive in a ritual sacrifice, using a form of torture associated today with the Italian Mafia, according to an analysis of skeletons discovered at an archaeological site in southwest France.
Paul McCartney and John Lennon’s sons have released a single together
A new Lennon and McCartney collaboration is the last thing anybody expected.
Some millennials say federal budget was 'a letdown' amid cost of living struggles
It’s a picture-perfect scene: Adam and Maria Reynolds are playing with their daughters inside their Port Coquitlam, B.C. home. Watching them together, you might not realize the Reynolds household is stretched to its limit.