Linda McQuaig: Carney is using Trump’s threats as an excuse to strip workers of their rights - Toronto Star

Weakening labour’s bargaining power isn’t going to make our economy stronger or more Trump-proof, it’s just going to ensure that an ever-larger share of rewards go to the wealthy.

U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., October 7, 2025. 

Linda McQuaig is a Toronto-based freelance contributing columnist for the Star. Follow her on Bluesky: @lindamcquaig.bsky.social  

There’s a tendency among the rich to look at how incredibly wealthy they’ve become in recent years and marvel at how brilliantly they’ve performed.

In truth, however, most of them have gotten wildly rich not because they’ve performed brilliantly, but because the rules have been rigged in their favour.

As if the rich need more of a leg-up, Prime Minister Mark Carney is introducing a measure that will tilt things even more in favour of capital over labour.

Of course, the Carney government doesn’t want to be seen as anti-worker. It insists, on the contrary, that it’s making the change “in solidarity with workers.”

But the fierce reaction from the labour movement reveals how fallacious that claim is. Labour is enraged that Carney is planning to change a section of the labour code in a way that undermines the ability of workers to use the one real weapon they wield in their battle against corporate power — the right to strike.

The Canadian Labour Congress maintains that the change gives Ottawa sweeping new powers to block legal strikes, putting Canada out of step with other G7 nations and weakening the bargaining power of Canadian labour.

Of course, like many other changes Carney is making with great speed and resolve, he claims to be acting to strengthen our economy so that we’re better equipped to stand up to the menace posed by U.S. President Donald Trump.

But weakening labour’s bargaining power isn’t going to make our economy stronger or more Trump-proof; it’s just going to ensure that an ever-larger share of rewards go to the wealthy.

That’s what’s been happening for decades, as governments have put in place “neo-liberal” policies favouring capital accumulation, with the promise that some of the capital accumulated would “trickle down.”

Or as someone once noted: “Here’s how trickle-down works. First, the top one per cent get all the money. Then … that’s it. That’s all that happens.”

Carney is using the Trump-provoked crisis as a cover to justify doubling down on trickle-down economics, despite its proven track record of dramatically increasing inequality.

Workers at Air Canada won by simply refusing to abide by the Liberals’ approach to labour.