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.