JAY GOLDBERG: Labour disputes cannot keep holding Canada’s economy hostage

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A much-overlooked element of Prime Minister Mark Carney's government's new Building Canada Strong Act is major labour relations reforms that will bring about more predictability in the federal government's responses to significant labour disputes.

Over the past three years, Canada has seen several labour disputes that have affected Canadians and our country's reputation as a reliable international trading partner. We've seen rail, port and airline stoppages, all of which have affected Canadians, our economy and our ability to trade internationally.

Last month, the Carney government introduced omnibus legislation that, in part, aims to address this issue. It would give the minister of jobs and families, presently Patty Hajdu, the ability to intervene in a labour dispute should she believe that it is in the "national interest" to do so.

Should the law pass, Hajdu would be able to refer a question to the Canada Industrial Relations Board or direct the board to act itself. In the past, governments have asked the Canada Industrial Relations Board to order work to resume, extend an expired collective agreement or impose binding arbitration.

Canada has seen a surge in work stoppages in the transportation sector in recent years. While it normally makes sense to allow workers and employers to bargain over collective agreements, strikes or lockouts in the transportation sector threaten to grind the Canadian economy to a halt. Entire supply chains can be held hostage by a single union or employer. In this case, it makes sense to empower the federal minister to be able to step in.

We're not talking about a small impact on our economy. In August 2024, when Canada's two major freight rail systems shut down at the same time, the shutdown wreaked havoc on the Canadian economy. Those two railway systems normally move at least $1 billion of goods each day. The Conference Board of Canada estimated that a four-week stoppage could lead to a $10-billion gross domestic product (GDP) loss, as well as affect 49,000 jobs across the country.

Two labour disputes threatened to throw the entire country into turmoil.

It was a similar case later that year, when port lockouts in British Columbia and Montreal affected $1.2 billion of goods each day.

It's one thing for strikes or lockouts to affect workers and employers. But when the entire national economy can be grounded, the government rightly feels compelled to act.

That's why the Carney government is introducing these reforms. The federal government isn't preparing to intervene in every single labour dispute. Rather, it wants to ensure that in cases where the national interest is genuinely affected, the feds have a clear option to ensure that the economy remains active. Given how much of an economic decline Canada has seen over the past decade, coupled with the ongoing trade conflict with the United States, the Carney government has little choice but to tackle a major issue like this.

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Of course, union leaders are up in arms. That should be a surprise to no one. But don't buy their rhetoric. The Carney government isn't preparing to end labour rights in Canada. The federal government simply wants to have the right tools in its toolbox to end the kind of labour dispute that could cost the economy billions and thousands of Canadians their livelihoods.

The new law would mean that a federal minister would be able to appoint a special mediator to work with the relevant parties in a dispute should they not be able to reach an agreement. Only after no agreement is reached, a strike or lockout is underway and the special mediator issues a report could the minister use her powers, via the Canada Industrial Relations Board, to send workers back to work or impose some sort of binding method of settling the conflict.

The labour relations element of the Building Canada Strong Act is a move in the right direction. It deserves Canadians' support. Voters shouldn't buy the spin from Canada's big union bosses.

— Dr. Jay Goldberg is a political scientist and a fellow with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy