John Rafferty says he has a lot of work left to do on Parliament Hill.
The Thunder Bay-Rainy River NDP MP since 2007, Rafferty said one of the reasons he's running again is to make sure there's a consistent voice for his riding in Ottawa. As the critic for pensions, FedNor and forestry Rafferty said there are a lot of issues he's worked hard on for the North that he doesn't want to see go backwards.
"We don't want to start all this over again," he said.
Politics shouldn't be a career and people change their minds on who will best represent them as MP but now's not the time with the NDP looking like they could form or heavily influence the next government Rafferty said.
"I'm just happy to keep doing it," Rafferty said.
"I'm excited about the prospect of possibly forming government."
An NDP government would include more money and power for FedNor.
"The other ones are all stand-alone. It's time that FedNor was a stand-alone industry."
Out in the region Rafferty is hearing a lot of people looking for anyone but Stephen Harper.
"There's a real distaste for Stephen Harper more so than even the Conservative brand," he said.
Health, seniors and youth and jobs are also top of mind for people heading into Oct. 19.
"Pocket book issues, affordability and not just seniors but there are a lot of working single-parent families out there and they're struggling," Rafferty said.
"Those are the things you fight for."
Many of the issues need a relationship between the federal and provincial governments, something Rafferty said the Conservatives haven't been interested in. The NDP would hold meetings twice a year between Muclair and Premiers.
"If you meet a couple of times you can start to talk about issues that are really important," he said.
On First Nations, Rafferty said it's time the federal government believed in an actual nation-to-nation partnership.
"First of all you have to believe and I don't think Liberals and Conservatives in 148 years have ever believed," Rafferty said.
