Decisive action by Trudeau could have prevented this whole destructive situation. Photo Credit: iStock.
The rail strike currently plaguing Canada should never have happened. For starters, how did it occur that both major rail lines, Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Kansas City, could go on strike at the same time? This is a first for Canada, and hopefully a last. Who permitted this to happen? Even one of the railways going on strike is serious enough – both is deadly. And the timing couldn’t be worse for the vital agricultural sector, as it is harvest season and perishable crops that have no way to get where they are destined to go could spoil, resulting in major losses for Canada’s hard-working farmers and food shortages for Canadians and consumers in our many export markets.
Although rail travel is often looked upon as a relic from another era, many Canadians do not realize how much our economy depends on it. A billion dollars in goods is transported daily by train, and half of Canada’s exports rely on trains. Many industries are affected by this strike, including resources, agriculture, manufacturing and many others. Canada’s rail lines are highly integrated with those south of the border in the US, so this strike affects many US businesses and consumers as well. Some businesses will look to utilize trucks as a replacement for rail, which will worsen traffic congestion and raise the cost of items shipped at a time when inflation is a major concern.
There are many reasons this strike should never have happened. As our railway system is a duopoly in which two companies control the market, the notion of a “strike” in which there is a balance of power between both employers and unions is ridiculous. An industry which has such an impact on the Canadian economy should have long ago been declared an essential service so that this kind of situation never happens. Given the warnings about a pending strike, the federal Liberals could have stepped in and required binding arbitration, or immediately legislated the employees back to work. As binding arbitration usually favours the union, it is inexplicable why this would not have been considered an option before the fact when so much economic damage is involved.
The fact that the NDP leader Jagmeet Singh stated that the Liberals must let the collective bargaining process play out and not intervene may have had something to do with Liberal reticence to act before the strike started, but if the Liberals had any smarts or courage this wouldn’t have been much of a deterrent. Singh continues to whine constantly about various Liberal policies yet has never responded by pulling the plug on the Trudeau government and precipitating an election.
Canada’s reputation on the world stage will also be even more damaged by a national rail strike, even a very brief one. The Trudeau government’s ongoing policies of excessive regulatory measures on the economy, “woke” sensibilities that have been ridiculed by other Western leaders, damage to our vital resource and oil and gas sector and lack of participation in NATO and other international bodies have already devalued our country in the eyes of our allies. They have also had a devastating impact on investment in Canada, harming our economy. Permitting a national rail strike will merely further worsen others’ perceptions that Canada is a valuable partner internationally.
The rail strike also illustrates why recently passed legislation to outlaw replacement workers in the event of a strike in federally-regulated workplaces was a ridiculous law. All of the essential infrastructure in Canada – transportation, ports, communications, banking etc. are federally regulated workplaces. A true balance between employers and employees requires employers to be able to use replacement workers as a response to a labour strike. The fact that our federal Parliament – with the full support of the Conservative Party – recently passed legislation to further imbalance the employer-employee dynamic was an unfortunate demonstration of politicians once again caving in to union interests at the expense of the large majority of Canadians who are not unionized and never want to be. Unions consistently claim to be concerned about the interests of all workers, yet events like this rail strike demonstrate how that is a dishonest claim.
Trudeau’s last-minute decision to impose binding arbitration renders the whole process even more ridiculous. If the government were going to do this in any case, why wait until the strike was already underway? In anticipation of the strike, many companies in the US, Canada and other countries had already stopped shipments, made other arrangements or otherwise undertaken contingencies that interfered with supply chains and other systems. It’s difficult to know how long the arbitration process will take and how long it will be before the railways are back to full capacity, but it won’t be overnight. Decisive action by Trudeau could have prevented this whole destructive situation. Waiting for only a day to impose binding arbitration is not likely to give Trudeau many kudos from the union community either. Once again, Liberal policy ends up being a no-win for anyone.
The union tail wagging the economic dog in Canada must end. By permitting the rail strike to take place at all, the Trudeau government has once again taken the cowardly route of favouring potential Liberal votes instead of doing the right thing for Canada. This has been a habit for these Liberals, demonstrated by other issues such as refusing to act against the hate-mongers in our streets preaching anti-Semitism in the wake of October 7 to pandering to other groups such as the LGBTQ community’s excesses in so-called Pride parades (is public nudity suddenly OK in Canada?). A minor blockage at two border points during the truckers’ convoy in 2022 was used as an excuse for imposing the most draconian piece of legislation in the government’s toolbox – the Emergencies Act. Yet a massive threat to the entire Canadian economy in the form of a rail strike is permitted so that Liberals don’t offend any of their union voters? The last-minute Trudeau decision to impose binding arbitration is likely to risk those union votes anyway. None of it makes any sense or gives confidence this government has a clue what it is doing. To paraphrase Ozzy Osbourne, Canada is indeed going off the rails on the Liberal crazy train.
She has published numerous articles in journals, magazines & other media on issues such as free trade, finance, entrepreneurship & women business owners. Ms. Swift is a past President of the Empire Club of Canada, a former Director of the CD Howe Institute, the Canadian Youth Business Foundation, SOS Children’s Villages, past President of the International Small Business Congress and current Director of the Fraser Institute. She was cited in 2003 & 2012 as one of the most powerful women in Canada by the Women’s Executive Network & is a recipient of the Queen’s Silver & Gold Jubilee medals.
