Anthony Rota believes it's the little things that help push him forward as he seeks another term as the Member of Parliament for Nipissing-Timiskaming.
"I could probably name a lot of big items, like major funding announcements; whether it's the airport or infrastructure," said Rota.
"Those really make a difference but you know what really does make a difference? It is when you have one person come into your office and you can make a difference in their life. It's not a huge thing but you help them and you can get them to where they need to be and that is what makes it all worthwhile."
The 60-year-old who currently holds Federal roles as the Chair of the Board of Internal Economy as well as the Speaker of the House, claimed more than 50 per cent of the popular vote and overwhelmed his Conservative counterpart by nearly 11,000 votes.
Rota, who fell by a mere 18 votes to Conservative candidate Jay Aspin back in 2011, rolled over the opposition in the fall of 2019 by claiming more than 50 percent of the popular vote and overwhelmed his Conservative counterpart by 10,961 votes.
See related: Rota wins fifth term by wide margin
See related: Rota part of Red Wave
He says there are many goals for him, but if re-elected he wants to help boost the regional economy.
"We have spent just over a year fighting COVID-19, I want to see our constituents come out of this fighting and come out of this in good shape," he said.
"That is something I want to see so that the economy can flourish again. We have spent a lot of money, there is no question there but now we are going to start benefitting from the fact that many of these employers start employing again and that is something when you start looking at the stats, I believe Canada is at 90 per cent of where it was before COVID-19 and the U.S. is only at 75 or 78 per cent. So you can see that the jobs have been kept and people going back to them.
"We want to see the economy flourish and we finally got FEDNOR as an independent agency, and I think that is one of the big things that I want to continue to work with where we will see businesses evolve which develop and employ more people in northern Ontario."
He says one of his priorities is to continue to build the green economy.
"We can become experts and sell our technology and our products to other parts of the world and that is something I want to work really hard to develop in northern Ontario," noted Rota.
"I want to continue to work hard with Health Care working alongside our provincial counterparts to make sure Canadians are well covered."
The longtime local politician is hoping for another Red Wave in this riding as he hopes to secure a sixth term.
