Northerners weigh in on upcoming federal election

North Bay -

In just over a month, Canadians will head to the polls to vote for Canada’s 24th prime minister.

CTV News spoke with people from northern Ontario who expressed their issues and concerns heading into the election.

One woman from North Bay wants to see a boost in the tourism industry in this region.

"More funding for small businesses in this region to drive tourism. There’s a lot of potential here, but not a lot of people know about it. We need more funding up here for that specifically," she said.

An 18-year-old from Sudbury is heading to the polls for the first time next month and said he wants to see more economic development in the north.

An 18-year-old in North Bay will vote for the first time in the upcoming federal election. Aug. 17/21 (Jaime McKee/CTV Northern Ontario)

"Better immigration regulations," is one of the issues important to him he said. "Right now, from experience and knowing my dad who used to work in the industry, we’re just shoving them around like cattle…I’d like to use their skills especially up north so we can have that development up north."

A senior citizen that CTV News spoke to in North Bay wants more funding in health care.

Senior from North Bay says healthcare funding is a priority in the upcoming election. Aug. 16/21 (Jaime McKee/CTV Northern Ontario)

"The hospital here doesn’t do my defibrillator, I can’t believe it. A billion-dollar hospital for bandaids. All they do is, not much. Everybody gets funding, we get a little bit, but not much," they said.

One woman told CTV News she is most concerned about the climate and wants the government in charge to start caring about the planet.

"My biggest concern is about climate change because it’s real. I don’t think the conservative party really grasps what happening," she said. "We got to take care of that, and then we will figure everything else out. I’m hoping people start to care."

A number of the federal ridings in northeastern Ontario do not have a full slate of candidates right now, and the Green Party of Canada hasn’t named candidates in many of the races.