A group of senators is arguing Canada must overhaul its labour laws to avoid work stoppages in critical sectors if it wants to be seen as a reliable trading partner on the global stage.

The Senate committee on transportation and communications released a report Thursday which said recent strikes or lockouts at key Canadian ports and Canada’s two largest rail companies show the risk labour disruptions pose to the economy.

Sen. David Wells of Newfoundland and Labrador said in a press conference that those labour disputes were devastating to grain farmers, meat producers and fertilizer producers who saw their access to overseas markets cut off.

“We believe that our recommendations will help stabilize Canada’s transportation networks, keep our goods and services flowing and strengthen our reputation as a reliable trading partner,” he said.

The senators recommend new legislation or amendments to the Canada Labour Code to bring federal mediators into the bargaining process from the start when preventing a potential work stoppage is deemed to be in the national interest.

If talks still break down, the report proposes giving cabinet the power to order binding arbitration to prohibit a strike or lockout.

The committee report was prepared based on testimony from industry and labour leaders, including Bea Bruske, president of the Canadian Labour Congress.

Bruske said in a media statement Thursday that the Senate committee’s report “gets it wrong.”

“On issue after issue, it sides against workers and in favour of employers and weakening collective bargaining rights. Workers’ rights cannot become collateral damage in the search for solutions,” she said.

Bruske said the last thing workers need is an attack on their rights during a period of economic uncertainty spurred by U.S. trade aggression.

“We call on the Government of Canada to reject this report in its entirety and focus instead on strengthening collective bargaining and the right to strike and protecting fundamental rights for workers,” she said.

B.C. Sen. Duncan Wilson said Thursday the proposal represents a “reasonable limit” on the right to strike and would apply only to negotiations that have the capacity to shut down the economy if workers take to the picket line.

Under the proposal, the government would strike an independent tribunal of supply chain experts from the rail and port sectors. This group would be tasked with determining whether a labour disruption might affect the national interest.

The report also noted that the Liberals have increasingly leaned on Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code, which stops short of legislating employees back to work by asking the Canada Industrial Relations Board to impose binding arbitration if the parties are at an impasse.

Section 107 was triggered eight times between June 2024 and August 2025 but was used only sparingly in the preceding 40 years, the report said.

Wells said that tool is a “hammer” that ought to be used sparingly.

“When you have two sides in dispute, whether there’s a threat of a lockout or a strike, being part of the process at the beginning rather than using the hammer near the end is a much better way to go,” he said.

The report also recommends that the Liberals clarify the labour minister’s powers and set out clear criteria for when Section 107 should be used.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 11, 2026.