A mediator's report, made public, is where the minister sees leverage.

There is a particular tension in the relationship between a government and the labour movement—a tension that can be productive, like the resistance in a muscle, or destructive, like a fraying rope. When the Carney government introduced Bill C-39 this week, an omnibus bill that would amend the Canada Labour Code and reshape how major projects are approved, organized labour responded with alarm. The bill would create new "guardrails" around Section 107, the provision that allows the minister to order striking workers back on the job. Unions see it as a threat. Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu sees it as something else entirely: a source of new leverage for workers.

At the center of the dispute is Section 107, a provision that gives the minister responsible broad powers to "maintain or secure industrial peace" . Since 2024, the federal government has used it repeatedly to end strikes and impose binding arbitration, drawing sharp criticism from labour groups. Under Bill C-39, the government would be required to appoint a special mediator for 21 days before invoking Section 107. That mediator would produce a report setting out the bargaining issues, both sides' positions, and the likelihood of an agreement—and that report would be released publicly five days after being issued, unless the parties reach a deal first .

Hajdu argues that public release is where the leverage lies. "In the past, if an employer was refusing to bargain or was removing things from previous offers or acting in a way that was not bargaining in good faith, the union members could talk about it, but they couldn't necessarily prove it," she said. "That mediator's report—should it become public—is not going to be pleasant for a company's shareholders [or] their reputation" .

Unions remain deeply skeptical. The Canadian Labour Congress said it welcomes some measures but that "on the right to strike, the government broke its promise to workers." Bea Bruske, the group's president, described the bill as giving government "new and expanded power to end a legal strike when it decides the strike is, or could be, against the national interest" . CUPE passed a unanimous resolution vowing to defy the bill if it passes unamended .

The legislation is part of a broader package that Prime Minister Mark Carney has framed as "one of, if not the most consequential" bills of the session . The bill would expand the government's power to fast-track projects deemed in the "national interest," allowing Ottawa to issue a single conditions document instead of separate permits from multiple departments—bypassing individual reviews under laws like the Impact Assessment Act, the Fisheries Act, and the Species at Risk Act . Indigenous groups have also raised concerns, with Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse-Nepinak warning that predetermined timelines "subordinate the honour of the Crown to commercial imperatives" .

Jobs Minister Hajdu acknowledged the pushback but maintained that the bill's intent is to create transparency, not to erode bargaining rights. "It's meant to provide, first of all, another tool to parties to understand what the dynamics are and why they're struggling to get to that deal," she said . Whether unions come to see it that way—or whether the bill becomes another flashpoint in a relationship already strained—will depend on what happens in Parliament in the weeks ahead. The bill is expected to face significant debate, and the government has signalled it may send it to a special legislative committee for review .

Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu says unions will have new leverage under Bill C-39, which would require a public mediator's report before the government can invoke Section 107 to end strikes. Unions disagree, saying the bill expands government power to intervene. The bill also includes major changes to project approval processes.

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Sources: CBC News, iPolitics, Canadian Labour Congress