New bill should help prevent strikes in the 'centre of the economy,' think tank report says - National Post
Striking Air Canada workers during morning picket-line outside Montreal Trudeau airport on Monday August 18, 2025. Photo by Pierre Obendrauf/Montreal Gazette/PostmediaArticle contentOTTAWA — The Carney government’s recent legislation designed to avoid crippling strikes in the transportation sector was an important response to a growing trend that had the potential to cause serious economic damage, a new think tank report says.
In a report to be released Thursday, the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI) writes that Ottawa is justified in stepping in when the two sides in a labour dispute are not “remotely close to reaching common ground” and millions Canadians are paying the price.
The report cited recent lockouts at the ports of Montreal and Vancouver in 2024 and a labour strike a year later at Air Canada as examples of work stoppages that threatened major swaths of the Canadian economy and thousands of jobs. Airlines, ports and rail services are considered key parts of national infrastructure and are relied on by miners, manufacturers, farmers and many other economic sectors.
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In August, 2024, for example, the simultaneous shutdowns of rail services at CN and CPKC threatened the transport of about $1-billion of goods a day, the report says.
Gabriel Giguère, a senior policy analyst at MEI and the report’s author, said these types of transportation companies are different than most other employers and warrant unique legislation to help keep them in operation.
“It’s at the centre of the economy,” Giguère said of the transportation sector.
Christopher Monette, a spokesman with Teamsters Canada, whose members include truck drivers and dock workers, said the Canadian economy can withstand limited disruptions much more than “anti-union voices” suggest. More than 95 per cent of collective agreements are resolved without a work stoppage, he said.
“Claiming that few remaining cases are enough to cripple our economy is factually baseless and sells Canada short.”
