A heart attack pushed Pickering resident Bill Utton to retirement two years ago and left him with some strident opinions about the state of Canadian health care.

Suffering from six blockages, the 63-year-old first went to the Rouge Valley Ajax and Pickering hospital, which he said could not treat him, then was transferred elsewhere. Utton, who will vote in the Pickering-Scarborough East riding, is fed up with the level of health care in the area and hopes to get some relief after Monday's election.

"Right now, they're so far behind in everything that it's just ridiculous," he said of the hospital after watching a recent all-candidates debate at the Pickering Library.

"Go into the emergency room — it is the most pitiful piece of work you ever seen in your life."

The candidates all say something needs to be done about health care. That's about all they agree on.

Incumbent Liberal MP Dan McTeague is seeking a fourth straight term. Known as Pickering-Ajax-Uxbridge in the last election, the riding has undergone changes since 2000, when it included a larger rural constituency. Besides a name change, redistribution brought in thousands of Scarborough voters.

McTeague has been described as a maverick for his fight against the oil industry over high gas prices. He was also recently appointed by Prime Minister Paul Martin to protect the rights of Canadians abroad and has played a role in freeing several Canadians imprisoned in the Middle East.

Before the debate, as McTeague walked into the library, dental assistant Tajinder Gill greeted the incumbent warmly, and others called out, "Hey, buddy," and, "Hey Dan."

But the crowd of about 60 at the debate was as much Conservative as Liberal, with two audience contingents cheering or hissing depending on the speaker.

While canvassing in Scarborough, Conservative candidate Tim Dobson, 48, criticized the Liberal government for its slow pace in implementing the reforms called for in the 2003 health accord negotiated with the provinces by the Liberals.

"That calls for increased funding for basic service, a start to a pharmacare program, more support for homecare spaces," said Dobson, a manager of safety inspections at nuclear power plants.

"Only problem is, Paul Martin is kind of lukewarm on that agreement. ... Why not implement that deal?"

Dobson ran and lost as an Alliance candidate in Halton last election.

McTeague, 41, is also hearing the concerns about health care and agrees hospital wait times need to be reduced. "That's laudable," he said of voter concern. "It has not gone unnoticed."

NDP candidate Gary Dale, 51, understands the frustration of voters who feel an emergency room is no place to go get well.

"I had some personal experience with that the other day. My daughter had to go in to (get) checked out after a minor automobile accident," he said. "She was sitting in the emergency for hours. This was at the Ajax-Pickering hospital."

He also feels the Liberals had their chance to fix the problem. "(Paul) Martin says that he's going to reduce waiting times ... (He was) the number 2 person in the Chrétien (government)," said Dale, who ran for provincial office last year and lost. "It was under his government that the waiting times increased. He's had 11 years to do it better. Gimme a break."

Matthew Pollesel, 23, is running for the Green Party, and part of his health-care platform includes shutting down the Pickering power plant and retraining its workers.