With a large aging population on the rise, home care has become an very important issue that northern Ontario candidates are now promising solutions for as the election approaches.

Dr. Jo-Anne Clarke, specializing in geriatrics, said many of her patients couldn’t live independently without home care but sees that the current services need improvement,

“It’s a complicated system,” Clarke said. “They don’t know who to call. Care providers don’t show up. They don’t know who to complain to.”

NDP Nickel Belt candidate France Gelinas said she’s heard horror stories about home care and promised that her party will increase wages for personal support workers.

“It’s always the same thing: ‘ they were supposed to come and put me to bed on Friday night, they never did. I spent the entire night in my wheelchair,’” she said.

Timmins-James Bay Progressive Conservative candidate Steve Black said his party also wants to improve service by shifting the funding to the front line workers.

“Remove some of that bureaucracy and really shift the funding to the front lines, so that patients really see where the funds are being spent,” he said.

Nickel Belt Liberal candidate James Tregonning wants to streamline the system and is also promising to increase wages for personal support workers.

Credit CBC