NDP MP Yvon Godin ponders retirement

New Brunswick's only NDPmember of parliament, Yvon Godin, says he will decide by next week whether to retire from federal politics.

The Acadie-Bathurst MPsays that's when he'll announce whether he will reoffer in the October election.

Godin, whowas first elected in 1997, says he has spent much of the past year pondering about whether to commit to another term.

"I'll have been there for 18 years. When is the right time? I don't think there's ever a right time. That's why the decision is so hard," he said. "Any which way I will be going, it'll be one of the hardest decisions to take.When you're there and you make a commitment, it's not a commitment of one year, it's not a commitment of I go there, I do my job and when I don't like it anymore, I quit.' It's a commitment of four years."

Godin was one of the first two NDP MPsever elected from New Brunswick, due at least in part to anger over Employment Insurance reforms by the then-Liberal government.

He says if he decides not to run again, he's confident another candidate for his party will be able to hold onto the riding.

But the Liberals would seeGodin'sretirement as a long-awaited chance to win back what was once a solidly Liberal seat.

Godin says whether the NDP, which became the Official Opposition for the first time in 2011,has a chance at forming a government won't be a factor in his decision.

"That is in my thoughts, but that's not going to stop me from making a decision," he said.

No one has come close to beating Godin since he was elected.

In 2011, he earned nearly 70 per cent of the vote share in his riding, with more than 32,000 votes. His 53-point victory over second place Conservative candidate Louis Robichaud was the largest margin of victory for any NDP MP in that election.