Bill C-39 opens new fight over strike powers, project approvals and environmental rules

The Liberal government’s Bill C-39, the Building Canada Strong Act, would combine faster federal approvals for major infrastructure with significant changes to labour law in federally regulated industries. Introduced Sept. 21, the bill would formalize streamlined reviews for major projects and trade corridors while changing Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code, the provision governments have used to intervene in major labour disputes. Under the proposal, a special mediator would first have to be appointed and report publicly, and the labour minister would have to conclude that a strike or lockout posed a significant adverse national impact before directing the Canada Industrial Relations Board to resume operations, extend an agreement or impose a binding resolution process. Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu and other Liberals argue the changes place clearer conditions around a power that already exists, while adding earlier bargaining, longer conciliation periods and new mediation tools intended to prevent disputes from reaching that point.

The opposition parties have attacked different parts of the legislation. Conservatives have said they support the stated objective of getting projects built faster but question whether another Liberal framework will produce results; deputy leader Melissa Lantsman said the party intends to scrutinize the bill and propose amendments, while Pierre Poilievre argued the government’s earlier project-acceleration measures have produced announcements without construction. New Democrats have focused heavily on labour rights, with Edmonton Strathcona MP Heather McPherson arguing the new Section 107 framework would give ministers extraordinary powers to interfere in legal strikes. Bloc Québécois MPs have similarly warned that limiting strike action for broad economic reasons could conflict with the Charter-protected right to strike, while Green Party Leader Elizabeth May has condemned the bill’s environmental provisions, saying changes affecting the Fisheries Act, Species at Risk Act and navigable-waters rules weaken decades of environmental protection.

The Communist Party of Canada is calling for Bill C-39 to be defeated outright, framing it as part of what it describes as a broader agenda of deregulation, privatization and attacks on organized labour. Communist leader Drew Garvie argues that workers should respond with coordinated labour action and renewed demands for a Labour Bill of Rights that would explicitly protect strike action, including political and social strikes. That position goes further than the parliamentary opposition: rather than seeking amendments to the new intervention process, the Communist Party argues the federal government should lose the ability to end strikes through Section 107 altogether. Major unions have also mobilized against the labour provisions, with Unifor and Teamsters Canada warning that employers will have less incentive to bargain if they expect Ottawa can eventually intervene. The government rejects that interpretation and maintains the new process sets a higher bar for intervention while preserving collective bargaining as the primary way disputes are resolved.