Canvassing for votes in Canada's unemployment capital

In a photo from Jan. 6, 2015 in Detroit, the Ambassador Bridge leading into Windsor, Ontario is seen from Detroit. (AP / Carlos Osorio)

In a city scarred by years of economic decline and a stubbornly high unemployment rate, federal candidates know what to expect while knocking on doors.

During any election campaign in Windsor, Ont., most discussions revolve around disappearing jobs in the once-dominant and prosperous automotive and manufacturing sectors.

Since 2006, Windsor has been Canada’s unemployment capital more often than any other city. Its economic decline goes back even further, with Statistics Canada data showing that Windsor had the slowest growth in the country between 2001 and 2006.

In the midst of the global recession, Windsor’s unemployment rate rose to 15.7 per cent in July 2009. It has since fallen and fluctuated, but was once again on the rise this summer, hitting nine per cent in August – the highest in the country. The national unemployment rate was seven per cent in August.

That’s the backdrop for the current race in the city’s federal ridings of Windsor-Tecumseh and Windsor West. Both are NDP strongholds, but the political landscape could change after the Oct. 19 vote.

Longtime NDP MP Joe Comartin, who represents Windsor-Tecumseh, is retiring. Vying for his seat are NDP candidate Cheryl Hardcastle, Liberal candidate Frank Schiller, Conservative candidate Jo-Anne Gignac, a longtime city councilor, and Green candidate David Momotiuk.

In Windsor West, one of the NDP’s longest-serving MPs, Brian Masse, is running for re-election. His challengers are Conservative candidate and businessman Henry Lau, and Liberal candidate Dave Sundin, the president of the party’s local riding association.

And much like during the 2011 federal and provincial elections, voters want to know which candidate has the best job plan.

Brian Masse, who was first elected to Parliament in 2002, has been calling for a national automotive strategy for years, as Windsor and the rest of Canada shed jobs in the auto sector.

He said the NDP has the best plan to support manufacturing production communities. That includes ICanada, an initiative described by the party as a “one-stop shop” inside the federal government where investors can access financial incentives and support to help grow the manufacturing sector.

“We’re not sitting around waiting for a hail Mary pass,” Masse said in a phone interview with CTVNews.ca.

He said there have been improvements in the local economy – the Chrysler plant has been retooled and he’s met many Windsorites who have moved back home after months or years of working elsewhere.

But Masse said more needs to be done to fix the years-long economic decline he blames on the Conservative government.

Cheryl Hardcastle, the NDP candidate in Windsor-Tecumseh, said the party’s plan to reduce the small business tax rate to nine per cent will also help communities like Windsor.

Frank Schiller, a public relations professional who has worked for former Prime Minister Jean Chretien and former cabinet minister Herb Gray, said he has knocked on “thousands of doors,” only to hear the same concerns from Windsorites.

“Jobs and opportunity and growth are the key issues,” the Liberal candidate told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview. “We’ve had the highest unemployment rate for five years running now. It’s the only area not to have recovered from the 2008 recession.”

Schiller said his job creation plan revolves around the new Windsor-Detroit bridge, which is expected to be completed by 2020.

He wants to bring the Canada Border Services Agency’s regional headquarters back to Windsor, recruit and train an additional 200 CBSA border agents and ensure that local technology companies are being used to support border security operations.

Henry Lau, the Conservative candidate for Windsor West, said he plans to use his business experience to attract new investments to the region.

Lau, who immigrated to Canada from China more than 30 years ago, said he went from struggling to learn English to running and owning tool and die shops in the Windsor area before retiring at the age of 41. He still works as a business consultant.

“A lot of times, people think the economy improves by itself,” Lau told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview.  “But it doesn’t.”

He said Windsor needs to use its advantages, especially the skilled trade industry, to attract investments from other parts of Canada – and from abroad.

If he’s elected, Lau said he will bring jobs to Windsor by encouraging companies to start small and test out the waters.

“Hire maybe 10 people…and see if it works,” he said.

“Business is not so difficult once you identify your strength.”