Liberal Irek Kusmierczyk calls the economic trade war that U.S. President Donald Trump has unleashed on Canada 'the number one issue' in the federal election.
Kusmierczyk says our community is on the front lines of the economic trade war Trump has unleashed on Canada.
"90 per cent of what we manufacture, 90 per cent of what we grow gets exported to the U.S. We need to stand united as Canadians, as one country, and fight these tariffs. And we will," he says.
Kusmierczyk, who was first elected to represent the riding of Windsor-Tecumseh in the 2019 federal election and then again in 2021, is seeking to return to Ottawa in the newly expanded riding of Windsor-Tecumseh-Lakeshore.
He says he's been the member of parliament for six years and has delivered $16 billion for this community, including the investments in the NextStar electric vehicle battery manufacturing plant and he wants to build on that.
Trump has ordered 25 per cent tariffs on all imported Canadian goods, except energy and potash, which will be taxed at 10 per cent but has paused the added tax on any goods covered under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), also known as the USMCA south of the border.
On March 12, the U.S. imposed tariffs of 25 per cent on Canadian steel and aluminium products. Canada, in turn, imposed reciprocal tariffs on American steel and aluminium.
The federal government is prepared to unleash its second round of levies attached to $125 billion in American goods on April 2.
Kusmierczyk says they're laser-focused on defeating the unjust and unprovoked Trump tariffs against this country and this community.
"We're focused on building the strongest economy in the G7 that's going to work for all Canadians and all workers. That's my focus," he says.
The riding previously known as Windsor-Tecumseh was changed for this election following the 2022 Canadian federal electoral redistribution process.
Windsor-Tecumseh consisted of the Town of Tecumseh and the part of the City of Windsor lying east and north of a line drawn from the U.S. border southeast along Langlois Avenue, east along Tecumseh Road East, and southeast along Pillette Road to the southern city limit.
The new riding will now include part of Lakeshore north of the 401 and west of the Puce River (Pike Creek and Elmstead areas) from Essex.
Kusmierczyk says they definitely have more ground to cover in this election.
"I've been knocking on doors in Lakeshore over the last week, and I see the excitement at the door," he says. "I can tell you Canadians are so dialled in to this election. I think this is going to be one of the biggest turnouts we've seen, and that's because there's so much at stake."
Also running for the Windsor-Tecumseh-Lakeshore seat in the April 28 vote is Ward 4 Windsor City Councillor Mark McKenzie for the Conservatives, New Democrat candidate Alex Ilijoski, and Nick Babick of the People's Party of Canada.