Liberals looking to give minister explicit authority to end strikes: sources

Source: CBC Politics
Date: 2026-09-19 00:23:09.0
Tags: [National, Labour, Economy, Transportation, Governance]

The Liberal government plans to introduce the Building Canada Strong Act, which will amend Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code to explicitly grant the federal labour minister the authority to direct the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) to end work stoppages and order binding arbitration. The proposed legislation also empowers the labour minister to appoint a special mediator to issue reports prior to invoking Section 107 as a last resort in high-potential disruptive labour disputes affecting critical export industries like ports, railways, and aviation. The changes follow previous government interventions in disputes involving companies and unions such as Teamsters, Air Canada, and Canadian National and Canadian Pacific railways. While the government states the amendments aim to provide economic stability and private sector confidence without stripping the right to strike, unions have criticized the heavy-handed approach for undermining collective bargaining and violating worker rights.