Despite polling at a steady third throughout this year's federal election campaign, NDP Leader Jack Layton says he believes he could end up prime minister after Tuesday's vote.
Speaking to CP24's Ann Rohmer on Friday afternoon, the Toronto-Danforth MP said he believes his party could win the election, calling himself an "ever-hopeful individual."
"I hear calls... from (people) who once voted Liberal and are now thinking of the possibilities," he says.
With just a few days to go before the big vote, Layton is sticking with many of the same lines he's used throughout the campaign, particularly when it comes to the plight of working families.
With the stock markets slumping and manufacturing jobs being lost across the country, Layton wants to make sure families' interests outweigh those of wealthy corporations.
"We believe in balanced budgets," he says. "The way to do it is to take another look at these huge tax reductions that are being proposed for the banks and the oil companies.
"It shouldn't be going to the big banks now. They don't need it."
Layton says that if elected to office, he would cap credit card interest rates in an effort to keep more money in Canadians' pockets.
"It's time we had a government that just didn't do the same old things," he says. "Our prime minister is saying 'don't worry about it, just leave things with me,' and Mr. Dion -- he supported Mr. Harper 43 times when he could have opposed his policies.
"I'm going to keep working until we get a government headed by a New Democrat."
