Rallying for votes
Kings West candidates talk politics at Auburn forum
The candidates vying for the title of Kings West MLA fielded questions from the public May 17.
More than 80 people attended the Kings West Candidates’ Forum hosted at West Kings District High School. The Annapolis Valley Chamber of Commerce, NS Realtor’s Association and kingscountynews.ca teamed up to co-host the event.
NDP candidate Cheryl Burbidge, Liberal incumbent Leo Glavine, PC contender Chris Palmer and Green party representative Madeline Taylor covered a number of topics, including support for firsttime home buyers, economic development, rural Internet, poverty, transportation, the film tax credit, doctor shortages, education and rural transportation.
The election is set for May 30. Here’s what the Kings West MLA hopefuls had to say about long-term care funding, roads, education and food insecurity:
1. There have been cuts to funding to services in our senior care homes. There are large numbers of seniors in our province and many will end up in long-term care… there are staff shortages in these homes, which will result in seniors not receiving the level of care they deserve. What will your government do to address these issues and provide the best care possible for seniors in long-term care?
Leo Glavine:
Glavine started by saying the Liberals worked with administrators in the province’s nursing homes to look at how better business planning would result in savings.
“Staffing, if it was affected, then it certainly was not part… of any plan, nor should it have occurred… the same way in terms of other levels of services,” he said, adding homes that were previously struggling are now buying in bulk, issuing tenders to reduce costs and working with other homes for procurement purposes.
“It depends very much on the individual home as to what is taking place,” he said, noting the Liberals would add $3.2 million in the budget this year to improve food and recreation services in nursing homes.
Cheryl Burbidge:
“The NDP’S platform does include to refund the $8 million that was cut in nursing homes and residential care facilities. In this area, there was $200,000 cut out of the budget of Grand View Manor. The residents there just received… a letter from the manor itself saying they will no longer fund things like their vitamin B or their Tylenol… they have to purchase that now themselves,” said Burbidge.
“The people that I’ve talked to at the door… have noticed a decline in the quality of food… those are issues that are real, that are out there, that do need to be addressed.”
Madeline Taylor:
“If you don’t have enough people, you can’t do a good job – and you can’t care for your people,” she said, referring to staffing levels at long-term care facilities.
“It doesn’t seem quite right that we skimp on the people that we love and that are the elderly population. I’m 74 and I don’t know what’s next, so let’s get this straightened out,” she said.
Chris Palmer:
“One of the things that we’re going to do as a party is we’re going to put (into) law a seniors’ bill of rights that will commit to having seniors… if there’s a man and a wife, couple… this will ensure that they can be in the same location and not have to be spread 100 miles so it tears the family apart. We’re going to ensure that won’t happen,” said Palmer.
“We’re going to reverse the cuts… we’re going to put money back into… the homes so they can get the food budgets up… I think our seniors deserve more. They have done so much for us.”
2. When are our roads going to be drivable again?
Madeline Taylor:
“Something has to happen. It’s hard on cars. I broke a wheel a few years ago… it’s costly to people,” she said, adding she often hears concerns about the conditions of the roads and she believes co-operation from all levels of government is needed.
Chris Palmer:
“We need to have good roads and infrastructure. It connects us all. It connects our economy. We have to connect businesses to consumers. We have to connect families… and make things safe,” he said, stressing he believes investments in roads are imperative, and would be included in the PC party’s Rebuild Nova Scotia plan.
Palmer concluded by vowing to push for Kings West’s roads to be viewed as priorities when provincial funding is distributed.
Continued on Page 5