The NDP incumbent candidate in Windsor West says it's positive to see the riding listed as a key battleground riding in the country.
Brian Masse is reacting to the article posted by CTV News, which states that Windsor West is one of eight ridings that could shape the upcoming election on April 28.
Due to the regions closeness to the United States, and being located in Canada's car manufacturing hub, the riding is being considered a battleground riding.
Masse, who has held the seat in the riding since 2002, says it's positive to see the riding listed and adds that the more attention brought to the region amid the tariff war with the U.S. -- the better.
The Windsor region quickly saw the impacts from the tariffs announced by U.S. President Donald Trump as the Windsor Assembly Plant, and local feeder plants, move into a production shutdown.
Masse says he's been working on local issues, that have turned into national issues.
"Whether it be the border, or the [Ojibway National] Urban Park, and now with my work in the United States to deal with the Trump tariffs, I have the connections there. And it's gained interest internationally, I've been doing interviews with journalists from Spain, France, all over the U.S. and it's because we're really at the epicentre of a lot of the drama that's coming out of Washington DC around Trump."
He says the attention the region is getting needs to be turned positive to help workers such as employees at the local Stellantis plant.
"I proposed relieving the GST off purchasing a new Canadian vehicle," Masse says. "The $10,000 EV incentive to be restored because the federal Liberals cancelled the $5,000 one and there is no provincial one, which should actually come in. So we could actually release about $20,000 to $30,000 of costs on the EV Pacifica right now to keep orders going."
Masse says at the door, he's still hearing support for the NDP.
"People have a high degree of anxiety right now, but they know me as a person, they know me as a fighter, they know me as somebody who works across party lines to get things done for this area, and so that still remains. And that's the bottom line is that I get up every single day to represent this area, and to do positive things to get results to make it a better place for all of us."
Prior to Masse, the riding belonged to the late Liberal MP Herb Gray, who won 13 consecutive elections.
The other candidates running in Windsor West include Jacob Bezaire for the People's Party of Canada, Joey Markham for the Communist Party of Canada, Louay Ahmad for the Green Party of Canada, Richard Pollock for the Liberal Party of Canada, and Harbinder Gill for the Conservative Party of Canada.
The riding has also seen the federal party leaders visit, including NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, and Liberal leader Mark Carney.