In Oshawa, tariffs loom large in election campaign

From a table at Mr. Burger in Oshawa, you can see the General Motors plant that anchors the city's economy.

People there for the lunchtime rush — whether they work in the auto sector or not — are keenly aware of the potential impact of the tariffs that U.S. President Donald Trump is threatening to impose starting Wednesday.

Trump is "the number one thing we're most concerned about, and of course tariffs," said Dana Lynchock, a retired auto worker, as he waited for his order.

The impact of the tariffs on Oshawa will be terrible, says Lynchock.

"It's going to threaten everybody's livelihoods," he said. "A lot of good people are going to get hurt."

Lynchock wants the federal government to strike back as much as possible against the tariffs and in the election, he's looking for a leader who's strong enough to stand up to Trump. 

"I would not have voted for [Justin] Trudeau. That would never have been an option" said Lynchock. But he says he's open to supporting new Liberal Leader Mark Carney. 

"Maybe Carney is the guy, I don't know," he said. "We're just starting to get introduced to him. But so far, he's presented very well." 

Harry Porquet works for a company that transports newly built vehicles from the GM plant to auto dealerships in Canada and locations south of the border. He expects the industry to be hit hard by tariffs. 

"I'm at the end of my career, so I'm OK, but there's a lot of people in our office that have younger families and mortgages and I feel bad for them," said Porquet in an interview.

He says his top issue in the election is the future prospects for young people, particularly housing affordability.

"I think about my kids. I have a 22-year-old and a 27-year-old and without their parents' help, they're not going to be able to get into the real estate market," he said. 

Porquet says he wants to find out more about what the parties are promising on housing and will wait until later in the election campaign to decide how he'll vote.   

Trump is the first thing that comes to mind for George Mitchell when asked what matters to him in the election.