Tories detail plans to add 2,000 staff to N.S. long-term care system

It's Day 18 of Nova Scotia's 31-day provincialelection campaign.

Houston talks health-care staffing

For anyone paying even limited attention to this campaign, it should come as no surprise that Tory Leader Tim Houston spent Monday talking about health care.

Houston and his party have driven that as the campaign's central issue even before the writ dropped. On Monday, he touted his party's plan to recruit more health-care workers, including nurses and support staff at long-term care homes.

The Tories are promising to hire2,000 new workers 1,400 continuing care assistants (CCAs) and 600 nurses to support their plans to expand long-term care access. With a high percentage of seniors in the population and statistics indicating that will continue to grow, Houston said the province must be prepared to care for those people and that will require more staff.

In order to get the staff the system needs, Houston said a government he leads would focus on providing workers with the support they need.

"What's keeping them away is the terrible working conditions they have now," he told reporters.

"Right now, I mean, who wants to be a CCA when you know that you're going to have a physically-draining job, a mentally-draining job; you're probably not going to get a break when you go to work, you might not be able to get your vacation.

"That's a pretty tough recruiting environment, so we're sending a signal that change is coming."

Houston has previously said if he forms government he would address pay concerns expressed by CCAs, in particular, which isseen as a barrier to recruitment and retention. Hesaid his party believes they can reach their staff recruitment targets "in a couple of years."

NDP Leader Gary Burrill campaignedalong the South Shore on Monday in the districts of Yarmouth, Shelburne, Queens and Chester-St. Margarets, where he took aim at the government's record on affordable housing and touted his own party's plan for permanent rent control.

Liberal Leader Iain Rankin, meanwhile,visitedthe districts of Argyle, Yarmouth, Clare, Digby-Annapolis and Hants West.

Tories remove association president

The constituency president forthe Progressive Conservatives in Bedford South has been removed from his post.

Tim Gale shared a meme on Facebook last week about Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government that included lines sayingit brought "unknown numbers of Islamic terrorists into Canada" and plans to "bring millions from Islamic countries here."It suggestedpeople who vote for the federal Liberals are stupid.

In a statement, the party said Gale's post was flagged to themon Friday. He was asked to take it down,refused and then a member of the party's executive filed a complaint on Saturday. Following the complaint, Gale's party membership was reviewed and ultimately revoked on Monday.

Gale declined an interview request.

Party leaders on transparency

The three main party leaders are weighing in on what they're willing to do to improve the province's beleaguered freedom-of-information system.

The backlog for reviews is several years long and applicants from the general public and media alike have long pointed to high processing fees and delays for requests as a deterrent to access to information.

Leader Leader Iain Rankin stood by a plan that was in motion ahead of the election to review and act, stopping short of committing tograntorder-making power to the privacy commissioner andmaking the post an independent officer of the legislature. Right now, the commissioner can only make recommendations to government that are non-binding.

NDP Leader Gary Burrill and Tory Leader Tim Houston, meanwhile, as is custom of leaders of parties looking to move from opposition to government, are pledging to reform the system and grant the commissioner order-making power. That's the same promise then-Liberal leader Stephen McNeil made duringthe 2013 election, going as far to sign his name to the commitment. McNeil later called the promise a mistake and never made good on it.

The Green Party of Nova Scotia platform notes the party supportssetting maximum processing fees for FOI requests, improving wait times, and minimizing requirements on requests.

The Atlantica Party's platform promises to make the province a leader in fulfilling access-to-information requests. Party Leader Jonathan Dean said in an interview that part of the key to improving the system is to put more money into the system to better organize it and respond to requests.

Dean also supports independence and order-making power for the privacy commissioner.

"You can't function in [a position of] oversight and as a watchdog if you are somehow subordinate to the power of the executive," he said.

Full slate in Antigonish

An interesting race is shaping up in the district of Antigonish.

All five parties have someone on the ticket, including Randy Delorey for the Liberals.

Delorey has served as the minister of environment, finance, justice and, most notably, health since first being elected in 2013. He's seeking his third term.

Those trying to take the seat for their respective parties include Michelle Thompson for the Progressive Conservatives, Moraig Macgillvary for the NDP, Will Fraser for the Greens and Ryan Smith of the Atlantica Party.

Sound Off: Election Edition - The Debate

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So much to unpack after Wednesday night's debate. Thankfully, there's Jean Laroche and Michael Gorman.

Early voting numbers up

Elections Nova Scotia continues to release early voting statistics throughout the campaign.

As of the close of polls on Saturday they aren't open on Sundays18,426 votes have been cast. That includes people who went to community polls and continuous polls, as well as processed applications for write-in ballots.

That's way up from the total of 6,304 at this same point in the 2017 general election. However, we won't know for sure if that's a sign of greater interest in voting until Election Day on Aug. 17.

How to vote

Check whether you are registered to vote with Elections Nova Scotia.

Once registered, you can vote in advance of election day by requesting a mail-in ballot or by visiting a returning office or advance polling station.

On election day, polling stations will be open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

More information on voting is available from electionsnovascotia.ca.

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