A closer look at candidates running in Nickel Belt
Nickel Belt is a riding that's been solid orange for more than 50 years and NDP incumbent France Gélinas is hoping she can keep that streak alive at Queen's Park.
Gélinas is running for the fifth time in the northeastern Ontario riding that spans Foleyet to the French River.
She said the biggest issue she's hearing at the door is access to health care -- and worries about a hospital that was built too small.
"The No. 1 issue I hear at the door is access to health care," Gélinas said.
"People have been telling me, I have been waiting for a knee surgery, a hip surgery for over 18 months now. I haven't been able to go to camp, I haven't been able to go to work because I have too much pain and I still don't know when I will be able to have my surgery," said Gélinas.
The long-time healthcare advocate said moves to privatize home health care must stop.
"We used to have really good home health care here through the Victoria Order of Nurses," she said.
"They had people who had a career in home care and were really good at it. Now it's every second day, somebody different comes to give you your bath. I'm sorry, but stripping naked in front of a stranger twice a week is not respectful."
The man hoping to turn the riding Liberal red for the first time is retired educator Gilles Proulx. He was selected to run for the Liberals in March. He faces a tall task: Nickel Belt has never sent a Liberal to Toronto since being created in 1955.
Proulx said the most important issue he's hearing is affordability.
"If you look at the price of houses, gas, groceries, fast food, anywhere you go, it's gone up," he said.
"We need to bring the gas prices down, but we also need to have more rent control so that landlords don't gouge people. We need to have a better health care system, that's another thing that comes up."
Gas analysts however say Sudbury has been overpaying for gas for years, long before the Progressive Conservatives.
While Proulx said there's no quick fix, he would sit down with those at the table -- including those in oil and gas -- to come up with a solution.
"We need to look at how it's distributed also," he said.
"There's no reason in Sudbury as to why we're paying $2.20 and I had a friend the other day who was in Sturgeon Falls and she paid $1.80."
CTV News made multiple attempts to reach the Green Party candidate Glenys Babcock but didn't hear back before the broadcast deadline.
CTV News did reach Progressive Conservative candidate Randy Hazlett and we were told they would participate only if questions were submitted in advance. Submitting questions in advance is not permitted under CTV News policy.
Other candidates running in the race include Melanie Savoie of the New Blue Party and Willy Schneider of the Ontario Party.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.