NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh wants to hire more nurses.
He unveiled a national strategy to tackle the country’s nursing shortage as the federal election campaign heads into its final two weeks.
His goal is to hire 35,000 new nurses over the next five years.
Singh says he will also take steps to improve their working conditions.
“We are committing to ensuring that there is an appropriate ratio between nurses and patients,” says Singh.
“Nurses want to provide the best care possible, the care that they were trained to do, but they cannot do that if the ratios are not appropriately set.”
Singh also wants to make it easier for internationally-trained nurses to find employment in Canada and provide nurses and personal support workers with a $5,000 tax credit to show appreciation for the work they do.
Singh also looks to tie his proposals to federal healthcare funding that is provided to the provinces.
“Let’s make a condition of those transfers, that we have appropriate levels between nurse-patient ratio, that we have good pay for these nurses, and we hire enough nurses.”
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre expanded on his tough-on-crime platform on Monday.,
He says he would reintroduce legislation that allows judges to issue multiple murder sentences to mass murderers.
The Supreme Court of Canada struck down similar laws in 2022, but Poilievre says he will bring it back using the Charter of Rights and Freedoms Notwithstanding Clause.
“Parliament has the legitimate constitutional authority and the moral duty to correct this injustice and restore common sense sentencing with no more discounts for multiple murderers,” says Poilievre.
“Every life matters. And someone who takes multiple lives should be held accountable for each one.”
Poilievre adds it will be the only time he uses the Notwithstanding Clause.
Liberal leader Mark Carney highlighted the need to protect Canada’s sovereignty.
He says he will do so by rebuilding, reinvesting and rearming the military with a made-in-Canada approach.
“We have to give our armed forces the new resources that they need to defend our sovereignty with a made-in-Canada defence procurement approach that will help our defence businesses to grow here at home while diversifying their markets and growing their cooperation and sales abroad.,” says Carney.
“For too long, our military has been both underfunded and overly reliant on the United States.”
Carney also proposes the development of a new agency known as the Bureau of Research, Engineering and Advanced Leadership in Science.
It will help support military applications of such things as AI, quantum computing, and cybersecurity.
“Borealis will drive innovation in terms of security technologies, enhance our capacity to deter threats and strengthen Canada’s technological superiority, all helping to ensure Canadian safety and Canada’s sovereignty for decades to come,” says Carney.
“We won’t only bring the Canadian armed forces up to today’s standards, we will also build a military that is ready to fight threats that Canada is facing.”
The federal election takes place on April 28th.
