Members of Parliament return from their summer break Monday and the government is expected to introduce a wide-ranging bill it says is focused on making the economy more resilient.
But critics claim it could threaten the right to strike.
Government House leader Steven MacKinnon, Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu and Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc are set to hold a joint press conference on the bill Monday after it’s introduced.
On Saturday, Hajdu said the goal of the bill is to “reduce” the number of times the government intervenes in the collective bargaining process. MacKinnon said the aim is to make it “easier” to reach a labour agreement.
MacKinnon told CBC News there are “too many” lockouts, strikes and threats of job action and that it “harms” investment and employment.
Labour leaders, including the heads of Unifor and the Canadian Labour Congress, have said any measure that restricts workers’ ability to strike would weaken their rights and strip them of bargaining power.
Labour leaders worry the legislation will codify the government’s use of Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code to quash strike actions when a dispute is deemed to threaten the national economic interest. The government has used this contentious section of the code to scuttle strikes in rail, ports and other sectors in recent years, prompting ongoing court challenges.
Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne is also poised to introduce a new bill to extend the excise tax break on fuel and has a fall budget in the works.
The Liberals still hold a majority after welcoming three new MPs following a series of byelections last month.
There are six vacant seats which will require byelections in the coming months in seats that were previously held by the Liberals, Conservatives, Bloc Québécois and NDP.
Trade tension with the United States will be a dominant theme of the fall sitting, as U.S. President Donald Trump’s White House has cranked up pressure on Canada and continued to threaten its sovereignty. Trump has threatened to escalate his deepening trade war with additional tariffs on steel and autos if the two sides can’t reach an agreement by the end of the year.
Canada’s negotiating team walked away from a potential deal with the White House in August at the 11th hour, saying that what was on the table would be a bad deal for Canada.
The trade conflict then escalated, with Trump imposing another volley of tariffs and threatening even more, while Canada imposed its own counter-tariffs. Trump also has attempted to rebrand Lake Ontario as Lake America and has sought to cut off certain Canadian imports to the United States.
Carney, meanwhile, has been travelling the world as he seeks to quickly deepen ties with and attract investment from countries outside of the United States.
The prime minister told the Liberal caucus on Friday the government plans to introduce several pieces of “consequential” legislation during this session and MPs have told reporters they expect a fast-paced fall session.
Carney is scheduled to attend question period Monday but won’t be sticking around Ottawa for long. He will be in New York for meetings at the United Nations this week, though he is not scheduled to address the General Assembly.
The prime minister is expected to have more travel over the fall months, with several summits on the horizon.
— With files from Kyle Duggan, David Baxter and Craig Lord