Ontario NDP promises to hire 4,500 nurses during first year if elected

TORONTO – Ontario’s New Democrats say they’ll hire 4,500 nurses in their first year in office if elected in June.

The NDP says it would also create 2,000 new hospital beds and put a moratorium on layoffs of frontline health-care workers in that time.

The party says the promises will be funded with the $1.2 billion earmarked for health-care investments in its platform but that hadn’t been detailed in the document, which was released before the election campaign began.

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NDP Leader Andrea Horwath made the announcement Thursday morning at a campaign stop in Toronto, saying it would help ease the strain on hospitals.

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Horwath says the governing Liberals have left frontline staff without basic resources, and warns that a Progressive Conservative government under Doug Ford would bring cuts and open the door to a two-tier health-care system.

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Ford has not released a platform but has promised to end what he calls “hallway medicine” and add 15,000 new long-term care beds over the next five years if elected.