The issue of caregiving was the hardest for the four political leaders seeking election in the upcoming P.E.I. election to address in the time available at a forum hosted by women’s groups in Charlottetown Thursday.
The Florence Simmons performance hall at Holland College was near capacity for the event, which was a collaboration between the Coalition for Women in Government and the Holland College student union.
For PC Leader Dennis King and NDP Leader Joe Byrne, the subject of ensuring quality care for seniors, children and vulnerable adults, hit close to home.
King talked of his four sisters looking after his 84-year-old mother, who has dementia and lives in an assisted living facility. King acknowledged the work looking after a loved one can take, while calling for more home care and seniors care.
“These are the individuals who have paved the way for us to be where we are today. They paid the taxes, they built this province and they deserve respect,” he said.
He also noted the PC platform includes an initiative for pre-K learning as a way to support families and give children a head start toward success.
Byrne also has personal experience caring for a parent. After his mother had a stroke, she lived with him and his family until her death.
Though he didn’t fully address how his party would deal with caregiving for seniors, Byrne said the investments required would mean using metrics other than GDP to measure the economy.
His focus was on early childhood educators and the NDP’s pledge to increase those wages immediately.
“To ask early childhood educators to live in poverty is kind of ridiculous, because how are we going to attract the talent and keep them there?”
Green Leader Peter Bevan-Baker agreed wage increases for early childhood educators were necessary, and said they were his party’s second biggest spending commitment.
“The commitment from the Green party platform is simply to catch up with a lack of action over the last decade or more.”
As for seniors, Bevan-Baker said a Green government would increase homecare supports, with a significant commitment to ensure non-profits are able to secure predictable funding to help offer those supports.
Liberal Leader Wade MacLauchlan stressed the importance of ensuring seniors can stay in their homes.
“Our government, and I believe any future government, would be committed to having seniors live safely and independently in their homes and in their communities,” said MacLauchlan, whose Liberals are seeking re-election on a platform that includes a commitment to support family caregivers with up to $500 a month.
His party also has plans to offer support for the professional development of early childhood educators and to open a further 300 childcare spaces.
