Layton promises $1.5 billion for senior care

Last Updated: Thursday, December 8, 2005 | 9:04 AM ET

CBC News

The NDP's plan to spend $1.5 billion a year on long-term care and home care would begin to address the needs of seniors and help hospitals reduce waiting times, party leader Jack Layton said on Thursday.

Layton was at a nursing home in Dartmouth, N.S., to announce his plan to raise the level of care available to seniors across the country.

"Our seniors deserve a whole lot better than we're doing for them today," he said.

Maureen Vine presents NDP Leader Jack Layton with a pair of boots for his winter election campaign during a visit to a seniors' home in Dartmouth, N.S, Thursday, Dec. 8. (CP Photo/Chuck Stoody)

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The NDP plan would include an annual transfer to the provinces of $1 billion for home care, and another $500 million a year for long-term care.

The money for home care, Layton said, would be "an important practical first step to getting seniors out of hospital when they don't need to be there."

The money would provide home care for about 100,000 people, Layton said, taking some pressure off hospitals, and helping to ease wait times.

The money his party would earmark for long-term care could create 40,000 spaces in long-term care facilities, Layton said. But provinces would be allowed to use it in other ways to meet local long-term care needs, he said.