A snap election defined by economic anxiety and annexation threats is now a two-man race about who can stand up to the president.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday eliminating trade barriers within Canada would benefit Canadians far more than U.S. President Donald Trump can ever take away with his trade war as he made his case to retain power at the last debate ahead of the April 28 vote.

Carney, a Harvard-educated technocrat two months into his political career, has capitalized on his image as a steady hand at the tiller in an economic storm.