Among promises to deliver lifelong pensions for injured veterans this week, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau promised to re-open nine Veteran's Affairs offices across the country that were closed last year.
The Conservative government oversaw a transfer from physical offices serving 2,000 veterans in Northwestern Ontario to a toll-free phone number, creating a gap where those services became unavailable between Winnipeg and North Bay.
Thunder Bay Superior-North Liberal candidate Patty Hajdu added that locally-available education and mental health services ought to accompany lifetime pensions for injured veterans.
"I think whenever people can get support in a local way, it makes a huge difference in the type of support they get," she said.
"All of these things are much more easily accessed if they're local. When people have to call a 1-800 number or having to work through Service Canada that has many, many, many portfolios, it can be very frustrating for people. When you're in crisis and you're returning from overseas or you're battling an injury or trying to get your life started again, you need someone who knows those issues and can respond face-to-face."
Green Party MP Bruce Hyer called the closures "an outrage" when they occurred in January of 2014, citing former soldiers committing suicide as evidence Canada was mistreating its troops returning from war. He praised Trudeau for aligning with his party on the issue.
"It's a real shame the way Mr. Harper has treated the veterans. We send people off to war and we don't treat them with respect or dignity or give them the services they need," Hyer said.
"When we have that minority government soon where the Greens have the balance of power, we'll make sure that Mr. Trudeau or Mr. Mulcair actually deliver on those kinds of promises that we agree with."
Before Andrew Foulds was nominated as the riding's NDP canadidate, he participated in the demonstrations veterans and their families held outside of the closed Veteran's Affairs office in Thunder Bay.
Foulds accused the Liberals of having had more than a dozen opportunities to advance debate on veteran's issues and chastised them for not doing so.
Although the NDP hasn't made any announcements regarding its plans for those who have served in the Canadian Forces, Foulds committed to re-opening the Thunder Bay office if his party forms the next government.
"Veterans have done so much for this country in terms of being put into harm's way defending democracy, defending freedom. Many of them come home physically injured, some of them come home with post-traumatic stress disorder and they need support and they deserve support," he said.
"It (the local office) will be open if the NDP form the next government. I look forward to the support being provided to the veterans -- the support they deserve."
Conservative candidate Richard Harvey was unavailable for comment.
