"Mon Dieu, Pierre Elliott," one elderly man exclaimed in awe Thursday after shaking hands with the son of one of Canada's longest serving - and flamboyant - prime ministers.

Justin Trudeau's run for Parliament marks the first time the Trudeau name has been on a ballot since 1980, when Pierre Elliott Trudeau won his swan-song majority and turfed out Joe Clark's Conservative minority government.

Justin, who actually grew up in 24 Sussex Drive while his father ran the country, wants to reclaim the working-class riding of Papineau from the Bloc Quebecois, who trounced Liberal cabinet minister Pierre Pettigrew in 2006.

The junior politician, who gained notoriety for his moving eulogy at his father's funeral in 2000, says he feels his famous dad over his shoulder.

"Every day, every day," he says flashing a smile.

"Any time I feel I'm making a difference in the world for the better, that brings me close to what my father stood for."

His father, who first won Canada's top job 40 years ago in 1968, brought the Constitution home, gave Canada the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and fought off sovereigntists to win the 1980 referendum.

His name still causes Quebec nationalists to bristle, and that derision has been handed down to the son in some quarters, prompting detractors to dismiss the junior Trudeau as a lightweight.

He says it doesn't bother him.

"Listen, I'm not going to go out of my way to demonstrate the depth of my knowledge about this, that or the other thing because that's a losing game," said Trudeau, who has been a teacher and community worker.

"You don't get engaged with that. What you do is you work the ground, you connect with people, you earn their votes one handshake at a time, one conversation at a time."

Trudeau, who won a contested nomination, has been working the riding for the last 18 months and he says that's what will decide the result in Papineau on Oct. 14.

"I don't have to impress anyone except the people here."

The election battle is getting mixed reactions from people in the north-end riding.

One man scraping paint off his fence waved away questions about the campaign with a curt: "Bah, politicos!"

At the local community centre where Trudeau was visiting, Jean-Guy Levesque smiled as he watched the candidate work the room.

"I'm very happy with Mr. Trudeau," Levesque said.

Caroline Giroux, 35, who works at Cirque de soleil, hasn't been in the riding for five months so she's going to read up on the different candidates.

She "not necessarily a fan" of Bloc candidate Vivian Barbot but she hasn't decided if she's going to vote for Trudeau.

But she does know what she wants from her candidates.

"I would like what they're going to really do now," she said.

"I don't want to hear about the others and what they did in the past and what they should have done and whatever. Forget about the past. What can we do right now. Start from there - please!"

Trudeau, 36, is aware he's carrying a legacy with him.

"But we're a generation beyond where my father was and the challenges we're facing as a world are markedly different," he said.

"It's with an eye forward that I'm doing this. I'll let the historians worry about the parallels and legacies and I'll do what is needed right now in the years to come."

Trudeau isn't a flashy campaigner but he takes the time to chat with people and listens when they speak.

Not all the questions focus on public policy. One woman wants to know how his son, born last October, is doing. Someone else writes to his Internet site asking if he believes visiting extraterrestrials would be protected by the Charter of Right. He says yes.

He does have his dad's legendary Mercedes sports car but says that doesn't get taken out much because there's no room in the two-seater for a baby seat.

Unlike the Liberals in 1968, Trudeau doesn't have a charismatic leader but he says he doesn't think Stephane Dion's lack of sparkle is a hindrance.

"Obviously he doesn't have the flash and charisma that people always say they would like to see in a leader," Trudeau said, noting voters instead "talk about his integrity, his intelligence, his deep and respectful world view."

He insists Dion "is a man who is not only ready to be prime minister of Canada but is extraordinarily fit for it."

Trudeau says he's pulling out all the stops for his own campaign and he'll be getting help from his wife Sophie Gregoire as well as brother Alexandre and mother Margaret.

Even baby Xavier James has already made his influence felt, though he's still 18 years shy of being a voter.

"Becoming a father made me say, 'OK, this is why I'm becoming a politician'," Trudeau said.

"This is why I need to shape and improve the world around me."