The Liberal Party won a majority government under Pierre Trudeau, and Keeper entered the House of Commons as an opposition member.

Throughout 1982 and 1983, he made frequent calls for the Trudeau government to place a greater focus on Canada's worsening unemployment situation.

James would become more favourable to the Progressive Conservative Party after redistribution; Winnipeg North Centre, by contrast, was one of the safest NDP seats in the country.

Keeper served as his party's postal critic in the next parliament,[4] and was a vocal opponent of Canada Post's plans to reduce rural mail delivery after 1986.

Keeper sought the NDP's Winnipeg North Centre nomination again for the 1993 federal election but lost to Maureen Hemphill.

[9] In May 2005, Keeper, Jim Silver and Michael MacKenzie published a Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives study addressing low turnout rates among aboriginal voters.