Labour stability is an economic imperative. Parliament must strengthen Bill C-39

Keith Creel is president and chief executive officer of CPKC.

As a trading nation, Canada’s prosperity depends on the reliable movement of goods on our transportation networks. Unfortunately, over the last several years, repeated work stoppages in multiple industries have threatened that prosperity and made uncertainty a defining feature of Canada’s supply chains.

Labour stability is not separate from Prime Minister Mark Carney’s ambitious economic, trade and investment agenda. Labour stability is fundamental to achieving it. I was pleased to see the Building Canada Strong Act (Bill C-39) appropriately acknowledge that labour disputes in critical sectors cause harm far beyond the bargaining table. The Carney government deserves credit for recognizing this problem.

In the railway industry, we have known this for years and repeatedly called for reform to fix a broken system. But the government’s bill falls well short of the bold action needed for Canada to meet the defining moment we find ourselves in today.

Bill C-39’s proposed new Special Mediator process should bring greater transparency and accountability to Canada’s most challenging labour disputes by putting a public spotlight on conduct that stands in the way of a negotiated settlement. Canadian Pacific Kansas City, or CPKC, and other employers have seen such conduct repeatedly from some – but not all – union leaders.

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The proposed legislation would give the government a clearer path to act only after a strike or lockout already has started. That is, after supply chains are shut down and widespread economic harm is already happening. That’s not preventing disruptions. That is reacting to them.

For a railway – and its global customers – disruption hits long before a work stoppage begins. That disruption also lasts weeks after employees return to work.

Parliament must strengthen Bill C-39 by giving the government the carefully tailored authority to direct the parties into binding arbitration before a work stoppage is allowed to inflict nationwide damage. The authority should be reserved only for exceptional cases and be governed by a deliberately high threshold.

Government should be authorized to intervene only when negotiations are deadlocked, there is no reasonable prospect for a negotiated outcome, and a rigorous national-interest test shows that a work stoppage would significantly harm Canada’s economy, supply chains or broader public interest.

We place a high value on collective bargaining. This pre-emptive authority is not a shortcut. It is a last resort.

A work stoppage – or even the credible threat of one – at railways, major ports or airlines delays or disrupts shipments and passengers, increases consumer costs and weakens confidence in Canada as a place to invest.

Union critics argue that pre-emptive intervention, regardless of the circumstances, infringes the constitutional right to strike. This is false. Canadian courts have routinely found the right to strike is not absolute. Courts have upheld legitimate limitations where a substantial and pressing public interest exists if an alternative process that is fair, balanced and proportionate is provided. Binding arbitration, where an independent third party hears both sides and determines an outcome, provides that constitutionally valid alternative.

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Pre-emptive authority to compel binding arbitration is not pro-employer or anti-union. It is a responsible tool for government to protect Canada’s national public interest.

Fairness has to extend to workers and employers. It also must extend to all Canadians who have no seat at the bargaining table but still bear the consequences.

Canadian law should not reward leveraging unionized employees against the entire country. Once every reasonable opportunity for a negotiated agreement is exhausted, the government needs the ability to maintain industrial peace in critical sectors, the ones so many other Canadian businesses and people depend on.

Bill C-39 is a welcome acknowledgment of a chronic risk to Canada’s prosperity.

Now, the government must match its correct diagnosis with a reasonable prescription that will solve the problem. Members of Parliament and senators must show courageous leadership to safeguard Canada’s national interest and do what is right. Parliament must strengthen Bill C-39 and seize the moment for the benefit of all Canadians.