Jessica George
Teacher, radio talk show host, small business owner, a man learned in mediation and dispute resolution techniques.
And now—politician.
Many things in John Rafferty’s life have led up to this point. Working on his first campaign when he was 14, the local NDP candidate was hooked on the ideals and principals of that party at a young age.
“I believe that we need to have a debate on what kind of Canada we want and what kind of Canada we want to show the rest of the world, and I think, as New Democrats, that we can do that,” Rafferty remarked.
He conceded there are many great politicians and leaders in the other parties he has admired over the years, but was adamant that his loyalties have been consistent to the NDP.
While living in Thunder Bay in the 1990s, Rafferty hosted a talk show radio program on CKPR called “John Rafferty’s Talkback.”
“Sometimes I’d have a psychic on,” he laughed. “But mostly it was about politics—municipal politics.”
He recalled that every so often he would receive phone calls urging him to take up politics full-time and join the race. And after a barrage of phone calls over the years, he said, “You know what? Yeah!”
“If I want to speak about political things with any sort of authority, I need to go through the political process,” Rafferty reasoned. “And so I have been continuing to do that.
“I just believe that I can make a difference in the lives of people in Northern Ontario—so here I am.”
Rafferty prides himself on running his campaign with the help of the people. Knowing the people behind doors and knowing what concerns them, what they need and desire, and knowing what makes them tick has been an amazing inspiration for him to be so committed to their needs.
“I believe that we [in Northwestern Ontario], on the federal level, have been ill-served for the last couple of decades,” he said, a fact Rafferty believes people can’t deny.
“I just ask a simple question and it is the same question I ask myself: in the last 20 years, are you better off now than you were 20 years ago?
“The answer, in most cases, is no,” he continued. “And I think, more than anything, putting families first in Northwestern Ontario is why I continue to run for political office.”
If he were to be elected in Thunder Bay-Rainy River, Rafferty is adamant that there are three things he would do that will help advance the quality of life in the area and, thus, affect positively each family and each life.
“The first is jobs,” he remarked. “Fighting to protect the jobs we have, especially in the forestry sector, and stimulating a new energy economy with green-collar jobs.”
Rafferty said he also is looking forward to attacking the growing difficulty families face just making ends meet.
“There are people that I have talked to in the doorway that at the end of the month have two piles of bills on the kitchen table,” he noted. “One pile is the ones they can pay this month and the other ones are the bills that have to wait.
“I’m looking forward to helping consumers from being gouged,” he vowed.
With regards to the health care system, Rafferty is looking to improve everything from shortening wait times to improving access to prescription drugs, working to improve accessibility to home care and long-term care, and putting an end to the push towards privatization.
Thirdly, he aims to contribute to the environment and help protect the legacy of our land, citing a “cap-and-trade” system that will place an “absolute target on carbon emissions which will be set in law and reduced annually.”
These three objectives, Rafferty believes, mirror the desires of the people in this area. And he insisted those desires will remain at the forefront in everything he does.
Rafferty noted that generally you belong to a party because you believe in the basic ideals of that party. But he conceded that if a Liberal or Conservative idea should arise that perhaps the NDP are against, but his constituents strongly favour, he would not hesitate to vote against his party.
“When I ran with Jack Layton in 2004, he came by on a stop and I said, ‘I may not always agree with you, nor will I perhaps always vote with the party because I’ll always do what’s good for my constituents,’” he recalled.
“And he sort of thought for a moment and he said, “Well, that’s why we are NDP’— that was his only answer.
“There are always certain votes that you stay with the party on and those are pretty consistent,” Rafferty added, but remained positive these ideals always would be of benefit to those in the area.
He indicated one of the most important jobs an MP is supposed to fulfill is to support his/her constituents and work for the good of the riding. Rafferty feels confident the NDP will be able to fulfill this obligation if the public do their part and vote them in.
“We have a unique opportunity this time,” he enthused. “Polling is telling us that we have an opportunity here to elect 10 NDP MPs in Northern Ontario.
“That would mean that no matter who forms the government, what that would mean is any day in the House of Commons, you could turn on the CPAC station and an NDP MP would be standing up . . . talking about the issues that are important to us, and I think that is very exciting.”
