As a veteran politician heading back to Ottawa, Charlie Angus is ready to hit the ground running.
Angus has been re-elected as the NDP Member of Parliament for Timmins-James Bay.
First elected in 2004, this is his seventh victory in the riding.
With the walk-in music of Taking Care of Business, Angus celebrated the win with supporters at the Surge Sports Lounge in Timmins, which is above his campaign office.
“We’re relieved. We should never have had an election at this time, it’s so much uncertainty. But when we knew there was going to be an election we decided that we were going to get out there, visit as many people, build as big a team as possible and engage with the voters because I think there’s a lot of frustration and alienation out there. Rightfully so, because of the crisis of the pandemic. It was about rebuilding trust and making people believe that their vote mattered,” he said after a brief victory speech.
On the campaign trail, he said voters wanted a chance to breathe.
"After being in lockdown for so long and that’s why they were frustrated at the election and they were rightfully angry,” said Angus.
With the uncertainty of the pandemic, and having a federal election less than two years out of the last general election, Angus never doubted that his team would put every ounce of energy into the campaign.
Heading back to Parliament Hill, he's ready to get to work.
“We have to get through this pandemic and we need to see what this new parliament’s going to look like. I’m very focused on issues like the opioid crisis. The Trudeau government has promised and promised and promised a housing plan, but we haven’t seen it. We need that,” he said.
