He first campaigned for the House of Commons in the 1980 federal election, and lost to Liberal incumbent Jesse Flis by 5,097 votes in Parkdale—High Park.
He ran again in the 1984 election, and defeated Flis by 1,460 votes amid a landslide majority government victory for the Conservatives under Brian Mulroney.
In 1987, Witer and Alex Kindy used a procedural mechanism to prevent the quick passage of a bill to establish a permanent war criminal investigative agency in Canada.
Witer was quoted as saying, "Canada doesn't need a witch-hunting brigade like the Americans have, because it would only cause anger and panic in East European communities" (Houston Chronicle, 8 February 1987).
[1] Witer campaigned for the Metropolitan Toronto Council in 1994, and lost to future mayor David Miller in the city's 19th ward.