THUNDER BAY – As health minister, Patty Hajdu found herself front-and-centre in Canada’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The two-term Liberal incumbent in Thunder Bay-Superior North has spent the bulk of her second term in office helping the country navigate its way through the pandemic, as tough a challenge as most politicians will ever face.
Hajdu’s goal, however, still remains trying to ensure that everyone in Canada, and especially in her riding and region, has an equal chance to succeed.
It’s been tougher with the pandemic weighing down on just about everything, but she believes it’s still a reachable goal.
“I got into politics because I truly believe that when people have the ability to reach their full potential, they contribute to their full potential as well, to their communities and to their country,” she said.
“For me, the work that I’ve done as the minister of status of women, then as the minister of employment, and now as the minister of health has always been focused on equity, equality, people’s opportunity – making a stronger, better Canada for everyone.”
Hajdu pointed to her efforts working to improve the labour code, the murdered and missing Indigenous women file and gender-based analysis in the federal budget are just some of the highlights of her six years in office.
“And of course, as minister of health, working on not just COVID-19, but things like the opioid crisis and pharmacare, other kinds of aspects of health care like virtual care and mental-health supports for provinces and territories,” said Hajdu, who brought a background in public health and time at the helm at Shelter House to her first campaign in 2015.
As the highest profile candidate in either Thunder Bay riding, Hajdu knows she’s got a target on her back and has faced plenty of criticism for the country’s handling of the pandemic.
She said she’s proud to stand on her record.
“I can tell you that at the beginning of the pandemic we made a commitment to Canadians and that was that we’d have Canadians’ backs for as long as it took. And that’s exactly what we did,” Hajdu said. “Whether it was working aggressively at understanding the virus, investing in research in those early days, acquiring PPE and later vaccines to bring to Canada to make sure nobody would go without these critical tools of fighting a pandemic – to making sure people had the financial supports, as well as small businesses.”
Hajdu said her government has been working hard to ensure all boil-water advisories are lifted, but admitted there is still some work to do, noting it’s not just infrastructure funding they’ve provided, but the Liberals have also committed to maintenance and operational funding.
She added she’s done her best to live up to a commitment to be out in the more rural sections of the riding at least twice a year, and also committed to find solutions to health and social welfare issues found in many outlying communities.
“It needs to be a priority for us all.”
