PERSPECTIVE: Federal government moves quickly to end rail strike

Our federal government looks to be moving quickly toward back-to-work legislation to end the strike that began at CP Rail today. The item has been added to the notice paper, and the only thing slowing down its passage is the fact that Parliament is not sitting this week. If CP and the Teamsters Canadian Rail Congress cannot come to a settlement by next Monday, expect our lawmakers to move quickly.

The Mining Association of Canada is strongly on the side of federal action to end the strike. MAC president and CEO Pierre Gratton said, “"A strike by CP workers will have a serious effect on the industry.”

Canadian mines that rely on rail to transport fuel to their sites or ship their products and by-products to customers will take a severe economic hit if the strike is prolonged. Their ability to operate at any functional capacity will be adversely affected, MAC fears, saying in a press release, “In this time of post-recession economic recovery, a threat to the stability of the natural resource sector is a threat to the stability of a stalwart of the Canadian economy.”

The threat to the stability of this country’s economy was highlighted by federal labour minister Lisa Raitt. She told reporters that the CP Rail strike could cost the Canadian economy roughly $540 million per week.

The federal government has been quick to pass back-to-work legislation during recent strikes by postal workers and Air Canada pilots.

Removing the right to strike yet again will not make the Tories popular with the labour unions. But maybe, just maybe, the correct course is to protect a fragile economy for the good of the many rather then to let the few disrupt it.