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Maggie Chi

Liberal on Adjournment Proceedings 2026-11-03

Replying to Heather McPherson (NDP)

“Mr. Speaker, I want to talk today about workers who are working at a federal institution and have been on strike for 134 days. It is a federal institution that has twice been found breaking the law and the government refuses to take action despite the rhetoric that it is here for workers. Today marks 134 days since PSAC security officers in Ottawa have been on strike. These are frontline security officers. They are first responders. They protect Canada’s central bank, its assets and the people who work there. They deserve respect from the managers and executives whose safety it is their job to protect. Twice, the Canada Industrial Relations Board found that the Bank of Canada had broken federal labour law by using scab workers against these striking employees, and the Bank of Canada continues to use scabs even after being ordered to stop. I want to be very clear about this issue. The employees on strike are asking for one simple thing. They are asking to keep the wording in their collective agreement that they already have. The bank is demanding concessions on scheduling rights. That is it. If the Bank of Canada stepped back from that, the strike would be over. The PSAC workers have offered to go to arbitration, and the bank has refused. At a moment in time when workers’ rights across this country are under attack because of the tariff war, because of Bill C-39 and because of so many things the government is doing, the fact that the Bank of Canada is not negotiating in good faith with PSAC workers, who have been on strike for 134 days, is unconscionable. I want to bring this back to something that we have also heard from the minister. When I asked this question in September, the parliamentary secretary said, “Mr. Speaker, let me be crystal clear. We will always protect the rights of workers, and we will always support workers’ constitutional right to strike.” That was in September, but what we have seen is a pattern from the government of undermining collective bargaining, taking away workers’ right to strike and weakening the ability of workers to stand up for their own actual human right to withhold their labour. The Canada Labour Congress president, Bea Bruske, warned Parliament at committee on October 20 that employers who expect government intervention have less incentive to bargain seriously. The Unifor president, Lana Payne, told the parliamentary committee on October 26 that the national interest test in Bill C-39 is so broad that virtually every single strike could qualify, because every strike has an economic impact. I am looking at one side, and I see PSAC workers who are not being treated fairly by the Bank of Canada, which has been found guilty twice of using scab labour. Then we have a government that says it will continue to fight for the right to strike for all workers but brings forward legislation such as Bill C-39, and the government has been told by Unifor, CUPE, CLC, USW and so many labour leaders that it breaks the right to strike. This is a problem.”

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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Edmonton Strathcona for the opportunity to set the record straight. Workers power this country. The government will always have their backs and stand up for their rights. Let me be clear from the outset. Bill C-39 would not take away their right to strike. It would not take away a single right that workers have today. Free and fair collective bargaining, including the right to strike, is protected by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It is the foundation of Canada’s labour relations system, and it remains so. We cannot build a strong economy without respecting the workers who keep it running every day. We also cannot protect workers without an economy that creates new jobs and can withstand shocks. The federally regulated private sector underpins key sectors of our economy and employs one of the most skilled workforces in the world, with more than one million workers and more than 22,000 employers. They deserve a labour system that protects them and delivers strong collective agreements at the bargaining table. Today, that system works well. About 95% of labour disputes are resolved without a work stoppage, but in a small number of difficult cases, negotiations break down and become entrenched. When that happens, existing tools are not always enough. Bill C-39 would strengthen a system that already works, with straightforward objectives: supporting good-faith negotiations and strengthening collective bargaining. During consultations, we clearly heard that some bargaining parties need more support earlier. The bill would strengthen the tools, supports and processes available so that unions and employers could find solutions together. It would create earlier and more adaptable supports for these difficult negotiations. It would create a process to appoint a special mediator, who would work with the parties to resolve differences and reach agreements at the bargaining table. It would also encourage good-faith bargaining, a responsibility that applies to both parties. Strikes and lockouts can be part of the bargaining process, and government intervention in a labour dispute should always be a last resort. Bill C-39 would keep existing powers under section 107 of the Canada Labour Code only for the very small number of disputes that become entrenched and where the impacts reach well beyond the bargaining parties. It would add requirements and greater clarity and transparency before they can be used to intervene in a dispute. Before interventions can be considered, a special mediator would work intensively with both parties and provide greater transparency about what is breaking down at the table. That means more accountability, not less. It means more room for bargaining, not less. A national impact assessment would also determine whether the labour disruption has significant impacts on Canadians and the broader economy. An economy is only as strong as its workplaces, and our workplaces are only as strong as the protections and relationships that hold them together. We will not build Canada strong by weakening workers’ rights. We will build it by helping workers and employers reach agreements, by keeping workplaces safe and by making sure they succeed together in a rapidly changing economy. That is what this bill would do.