Carney sounds alarm on Trump’s trade war during final Windsor visit

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With just two days left before Canadians head to the polls, Liberal Leader Mark Carney returned to Windsor — the city where he kicked off his campaign — to rally voters and reinforce his party’s pledge to build a stronger Canada.

Carney addressed a crowd of hundreds on Saturday gathered at the foot of the Ambassador Bridge to Detroit, a symbol of the economic ties he said are under threat from U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

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“We didn’t ask for this fight, but Canadians are always ready when someone else drops the gloves,” Carney told supporters. “In this trade war, just like in hockey, we will win.”

Flanked by local Liberal candidates Irek Kusmierczyk (Windsor—Tecumseh—Lakeshore), Richard Pollock (Windsor West), Chris Sutton (Essex), and Keith Pickard (Chatham-Kent—Leamington), Carney said he launched his campaign in Windsor because it was a key battleground against Trump’s trade war.

Saturday’s rally was held in Windsor West, a riding veteran NDP MP Brian Masse has represented since 2002. Returning to Windsor West suggests Carney believes the riding could turn Liberal, despite Masse’s long hold on it.

Pollock, the Liberal candidate hoping to flip the seat, delivered a brief but pointed message to his supporters.

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“This is the most important election of our lifetime,” Pollock said. “Windsor is on the front lines of this trade war.

“Windsor West needs a seat in Mark Carney’s government. He knows Windsor is where Canada begins and where the trade war will be won.”

Trump’s betrayal, Carney said, is a tragedy — but also a new reality Canadians must face, adding that Canada’s retaliatory tariffs are a necessary defense against the U.S. president’s economic threats. 

“This is a time for serious leadership and a united country,” Carney said. “We need to come together to fight, to protect, and to build.”

Earlier in his campaign, the Liberal leader announced a $2 billion “strategic response fund,” which he said would make Canada’s auto sector more competitive.

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On Saturday, Carney also reinforced his promise to build an “all-in-Canada” network for manufacturing more car parts domestically in direct response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on the Canadian auto sector, as well as Canadian goods more broadly.

A new Liberal government, he reassured the crowd, would build millions of homes, create “great careers” in the trades, make big polluters pay, and deliver interprovincial free trade by July 1.

“We’re going to usher in a new era of investment, jobs, careers and growth,” Carney Said. “Such that we create over $20,000 of new value for every single Canadian over the next five years.”

Carney urged Windsor-Essex voters to help elect a Liberal government, telling supporters that Monday’s election is like “Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals,” and that the future of the country is on the line.

“This country has given me everything — my family, my education, and my values — and I’m ready to give everything to Canada,” he said. “We need to leave everything on the ice. We need your help so we can stand up to Donald Trump and build the strongest Canada.”

Election day is April 28.

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