Opinion: The next cargo shutdown is coming. Canada isn’t ready

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Canada isn’t readyCanada’s labour laws governing transportation disputes were designed decades ago. A new approach is neededLast updated 10 minutes ago The next labour deadlines are already on the calendar. We still have time to act, and we should use it — before the ships pile up and the grain elevators fill. Photo by Cole Burston/BloombergTwice in the past two years, labour disputes have brought Canada’s ports and railways to a standstill. Each time, the federal government had to step in to get the country moving again. Another round is coming. This one could stop more than trains or ships. The effects could ripple through the entire economy.THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLYSubscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman, and others.Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLESSubscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman and others.Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLESCreate an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountThe first deadline arrives at the end of this year, when the collective agreement between Canadian National Railway and its railway workers expires. Three months later, the agreement covering dockworkers at Canada’s West Coast ports expires. Nine months after that, Canadian Pacific Kansas City — the country’s other major freight railway — reaches its own contract deadline.The ports and railways are links in the same chain. Shut down a railway and goods cannot reach the port. Shut down a port and goods cannot reach overseas markets. Shut down both, and a labour dispute can quickly blow up into a national crisis.Get the latest headlines, breaking news and columns.By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.The next issue of Top Stories will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againIn 2023, a strike shut down Canada’s West Coast ports in Vancouver and Prince Rupert for 13 days, disrupting the movement of about $10 billion in cargo. The following year, simultaneous work stoppages at CN and CPKC halted rail service across the country. By Day 1, about 830,000 tonnes of goods worth $1.1 billion had been stopped in their tracks.When the railway stops, grain piles up with nowhere to go. Elevators fill, bids disappear and farmers can be left holding grain they cannot sell. Grain analyst Greg Kostal says that within weeks, the damage can become irreversible. Trucks cannot make up the difference. Moving grain that way, he says, is like trying to empty a bathtub with a spoon.The 2023 port strike — which diverted container traffic to U.S. ports — showed that the damage can extend well beyond the duration of the stoppage. During the strike, U.S. marine terminals signed long-term contracts with shippers, capturing business that had previously moved through Canada, the federal Industrial Inquiry Commission later found. Once cargo moves to U.S. ports, the commission warned, it may not return quickly — or at all.The consequences can last long after the stoppage ends. In 2025, Saskatchewan-based Nutrien chose Longview, Wash., over Canadian locations for a proposed new potash export terminal. The reliability of the local labour force was among the factors Nutrien considered in making its decision.The decision was about more than where to move cargo. It was about where to build the infrastructure that would move Canadian potash to global markets for decades to come.As the consequences have become clearer, so has the government’s willingness to intervene to keep goods moving. Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code has become Ottawa’s favoured emergency override.For decades, it was almost never used. Then, in the past two years, it was invoked nine times.That should concern both sides of the bargaining table. For employers, repeated government intervention can reduce the pressure to reach a deal themselves. For workers, it raises a more fundamental question: how meaningful is the right to strike if the government can step in and end a legal work stoppage when the economic stakes become high enough?This advertisement has not loaded yet.This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.The answer is to intervene earlier — before a bargaining dispute spreads through the economy. There is already a blueprint.After the 2023 port strike, the federal government appointed an Industrial Inquiry Commission chaired by Vincent Ready. Its 2025 report recommended a new approach: bring in a neutral mediator after regular conciliation, before the dispute reaches the point where the government has to intervene. The government has yet to put that recommendation into practice.But mediation should only be the first step. If it fails, there should be a second step: binding arbitration.The choice should not be between shutting down the country and taking away workers’ right to strike. There is a third option — a predictable process that gives both sides a chance to bargain but ensures that a dispute cannot drag on until the economy is held hostage.Canada’s labour laws governing transportation disputes were designed decades ago, at a time when globalization was in its infancy. The country’s ports and railways were not yet the critical links in the global supply chains they are today. A strike could disrupt commerce. It was less likely to send ripples through an economy that depended on goods moving across continents and oceans just in time. The economy has changed dramatically since. The rules have not.The next deadlines are already on the calendar. We still have time to act. We should use it — before the next ships pile up, the next grain elevators fill, and the government reaches yet again for Section 107.Mary-Jane Bennett, former member of the Canadian Transportation Agency, is a Vancouver-based transportation consultant.We apologize, but this video has failed to load.Notice for the Postmedia NetworkThis website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.