NDP Leader Andrea Horwath unveiled her party's promises to northern Ontarians during a campaign stop in Sudbury on Monday.

Horwath is set to square off with the other party leaders on northern issues in North Bay on Tuesday afternoon.

"The fact of the matter is, the north has been ignored for far too long. We need to step up and fix the things that matter most to you," she said.

The party released the bulk of its platform earlier this year — which included a lot of the northern promises — but has been offering some new, specific promises during various campaign stops.

The new promises include: people who apply for the North Health Travel Grant will get reimbursed within 14 days; 6,000 affordable housing units and 3,600 supportive housing units; and three new community health centres in Kenora, Cochrane and Sault Ste. Marie.

"Not a week goes by that I don't have somebody in my office with a horrible, horrible story of how the Northern Health Travel Grant fails them," said France Gélinas, the NDP's candidate in Nickel Belt, who's served in Queen's Park for 15 years.

Gélinas joined Horwath and other northern NDP candidates on the trail. Algoma—Manitoulin's Michael Mantha, Sudbury's Jaime West, and Nipissing's Erika Lougheed also made an appearance.

Algoma—Manitoulin and Nickel Belt are NDP strongholds. Sudbury has flipped between the NDP and Liberals, while Nipissing has sent PC Economic Development Minister Vic Fedeli to Queen's Park since 2011.

The travel grant currently applies to people who have to travel at least 100 kilometres for treatment. The rebate is split into two parts: accommodation and distance travelled.

Accommodation is reimbursed at $100 per night for two nights or $250 for three nights. For the travel rebate, applicants double the total distance travelled, less a 100-km deductible. The remaining distance is multiplied by 41 cents per kilometre.

"Some people have to go back to Toronto every two weeks. It takes six months to get paid; they haven't got enough money to pay for a hotel anymore," Gélinas added. On top of waiting months for the rebate, it's difficult to get on the phone with a civil servant to discuss case details, Gélinas said.

The platform doesn't have any language around increasing the rebate. Gas, accommodation and travel prices are all up, according to the latest Consumer Price Index. The party is open to reviewing how much the rebate pays out, Gélinas said, but it might take a bit of time.

"But it could certainly be done in steps, like let's increase the gas reimbursement right away. Let's look at what we do with accommodations. But it would be done quickly. I'm sure within the first year we would have this done," she said.

In November 2021, NDP MPP Judith Monteith-Farrell introduced a bill that would've established a committee to review the grant and report on any necessary changes within six months. It never got past first reading.

The NDP promised to build 6,000 affordable housing units and 3,600 supportive units in the north.

Housing prices have skyrocketed in the north. In Sudbury, the average price for a home in March 2021 was just over $390,000. In March 2022, that shot up by nearly 30 per cent to over $500,000, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association. Prices are up nearly 25 per cent year-over-year in other places like Timmins and Cochrane.

Sault Ste. Marie has seen a nearly 50 per cent increase from March 2021 to March 2022.

The party is promising to build 1.5 homes over the next 10 years across Ontario to help fix the crisis. That's the same number recommended in the government's housing task force, and something all parties are promising. It's also promising to help people with down payments through a shared equity loan.

The other new promise is to build three new community health centres in Kenora, Cochrane, and Sault Ste. Marie that "meet the unique needs of Indigenous, Francophone and underserved northern communities," the platform said.

The party has promised to build 20 new community health centres across the province.

The existing promises, folded into a neat northern platform, largely revolve around health care, travel, and jobs.

On health care, the NDP is promising to hire 300 new doctors, including 100 specialists and 40 mental health practitioners.

Family physicians are the most important, Gélinas said.

"When it comes to specialists, I would say it varies by area. All of them need more mental health workers," she added.

To attract and retain those doctors, the NDP is offering a robust incentive package — including scholarships — and making it easier for international and recent medical graduates to get placements in the north. They're also promising to open more spots at the Northern Ontario College of Medicine.

Like the other parties, the NDP is also promising to revive the Northlander train and connect it with the Polar Express in Cochrane.

They also want to expand Highway 69 and Highway 11/17, and declare the latter a Class 1 highway so it has to be cleared within eight hours of snowfall.

The party's jobs pitch also features developing the Ring of Fire, something PC Leader Doug F0rd constantly hits on. An NDP government would also go forward with the project, but with more of a focus on involving local Indigenous communities, Horwath said.

Horwath, like Ford, is leaning hard on boosting skilled trade opportunities in the north. An NDP government would also boost film and television production.

The spectre of Laurentien University's cuts also loomed large.

"We absolutely want to see Laurentian back on solid ground and that's going to take work with the university as well as with the community," she said.

Horwath promised to bring back the midwifery program — one of only three in the province before it was cut, and the only bilingual program in the country — and expand it.

More than just a school, Laurentian is an important community institution that plays a part in the overall health of northern Ontario, Horwath said.

"It's extremely important to the future and the hope of these communities in northern Ontario. Laurentian is part of our plan," she said.

NDP releases full northern platform ahead of debate

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