Heather McPherson

Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Labour Congress, Unifor, the United Steelworkers, Teamsters Canada and other unions representing millions of workers across this country have told the government very clearly that Bill C-39's new powers would undermine the fundamental right of workers to strike, to withhold their labour. These organizations participated in the Liberals' sham consultations. They raised these concerns directly, and yet the government proceeded with legislation that would give the minister extraordinary new powers to intervene in a legal strike. Why did the minister ignore the warnings from Canada's labour movement, and will he commit to removing these new powers from Bill C-39?

Mr. Speaker, twice this summer the Canada Industrial Relations Board found that the Bank of Canada broke the law by using scabs against striking security officers represented by PSAC. Twice. The Liberal government has done absolutely nothing to fix this, which is hardly surprising coming from a government that introduced legislation yesterday to undermine workers' right to strike. When will the government stop siding with employers and start standing up for workers, or does the government believe that labour law is something that only workers have to obey?

Madam Speaker, the leader of the official opposition talks a lot about affordability. For millions of Canadians, affordability is not about tax cuts or corporate profits. It is about whether they can actually pay their bills, of course. This is particularly challenging for seniors. I think about Bev, a senior in my constituency who is very worried about becoming unhoused. Seniors are the population fastest becoming unhoused in the country right now. My question is simple. Will the Conservative Party commit to specific measures to help seniors afford groceries, such as increasing income supports, strengthening the guaranteed income supplement and indexing benefits to the real cost of living? Will the member commit to that now?

Mr. Speaker, I have requested an emergency debate because the government has announced a fundamental change to some of Canada's most important public infrastructure. Parliament needs to debate it now before decisions are locked in. Last week, the Prime Minister and his cabinet announced that the operations and long-term value of four of Canada's largest airports would be open to private investment, potentially including foreign investors. Let us be very clear about what we are talking about. This is not a private company operating a coffee shop or a clothing store inside an airport. This is about opening the major operations and long-term value of four of Canada's largest airports, Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal, to private investors, potentially including U.S. or other foreign investors, for decades to come. The selling off of these operations has serious security and sovereignty implications and could compromise the safety of Canadians in travel. These airports are currently operated by not-for-profit airport authorities. They serve millions of Canadians and support hundreds of thousands of Canadian workers. Make no mistake about it, private business wants a piece of our airports to make money. The Canadian Labour Congress put it plainly: “Private investors don’t put billions into airports unless they expect to make billions back.” There are no magic profits. That money has to come from somewhere, and that is going to mean higher fees and higher costs for Canadians, Canadian workers losing their jobs, reduced services, and fewer safety precautions. The result is that Canadians will pay more for less safe and worse airport experiences. Canadian workers will lose their jobs while private investors extract profits from infrastructure that Canadians built and rely upon. These airports already generate enormous public value. Airport rents alone return roughly $525 million a year to the federal government. That is why this is urgent. I am asking the Speaker to consider this urgent request. The government has announced the plan. The process is moving forward. Parliament has a narrow window to examine the consequences before long-term consequences are enacted.

Mr. Speaker, on April 17, I asked the Minister of Energy a very simple question: What would it take for the government to protect Canadians, to respect indigenous rights and to actually enforce our environmental laws? The minister told me that Canada has strict standards, independent regulations and a strong safety record, but we have heard this before. None of this matters if the government refuses to enforce the legislation, refuses to enforce the laws that are in place in Canada to protect Canadians, to protect our environment and to ensure that indigenous rights are respected. If we do not enforce that legislation, it does not matter, and the government has shown time and time again that it will not use the tools at its disposal to protect the environment in northern Alberta. In April, Imperial Oil's pipeline north of Cold Lake released 843,000 litres of bitumen and salt water that contained hydrocarbons, heavy metals, sulphur and other contaminants. That came after the Kearl disaster, when approximately 5.3 million litres of contaminated waste water spilled beyond the mine lease. When Parliament investigated Kearl, Imperial Oil acknowledged that seepage from its tailing system occurs and that the company's approach is to manage that. It is not to fix it, not to protect communities downstream, not to ensure that the water people are swimming in and drinking and that the animals and wildlife are using is clean, but to contain and manage it. The Athabasca watershed contains enormous volumes of oil sands tailings, and indigenous nations have been raising concerns about contamination and the protection of their water for years. I think about the incredible work that Chief Adam, Chief Tuccaro and Grand Chief Mercredi have done. They have called out the environmental disaster that is happening on their land, yet the government fails to protect the environment in northern Alberta. It is not just limited to the oil sands. I think of the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. Those are the headwaters that provide drinking water to millions of Albertans, yet Albertans have had to repeatedly fight proposals for coal mining in these watersheds. Corb Lund's “water not coal” campaign helped mobilize hundreds of thousands of Albertans around a single message that our water is more important than corporate profits and more important than coal mining by an Australian company. We are still waiting for the federal government to bring in selenium regulations. We are still waiting for the federal government to use the tools it has at its disposal to protect our water. The government can use the Species at Risk Act, it can use the Impact Assessment Act and it can use the Fisheries Act, yet it chooses time and time again to fail to protect the water and the land in northern Alberta and in our cherished Rocky Mountains. Once again I ask the government this: Why, when Albertans so desperately need the federal government to step up and use the tools at its disposal to protect Albertans, does the government continue to sit on its hands?

Mr. Speaker, to be perfectly honest, I am so frustrated listening to that response. It has been decades since the alarm was raised about the health impacts on people living in the Fort Chip area. Every year, Chief Adam and Grand Chief Mercredi come to Ottawa and ask the government to take action. What we get from the government is consultation after consultation and no meaningful action, no meaningful enforcement and no meaningful commitment to making sure that the water in northern Alberta is protected and that the indigenous landowners in that area are being respected.

Mr. Speaker, I would also like to take a moment, on behalf of New Democrats, to thank all the people who make the work that we do in the House possible. We all often come here thinking that we are the most important people in this place, and after just a very short amount of time here, we all realize that it is, in fact, all of those who do not stand in the House of Commons, all of those who do the work behind us, who make this place run so very well. We are all so grateful for the work that they do, to everyone at the table, to the clerks and to our incredible pages. We are going to have to get our own water all summer. It is a hardship that we are going to have to bear. To the Journals and the Hansard staff, I do not understand how they keep their decorum and make us sound much smarter than we sometimes deserve. To the security personnel, to the Sergeant-at-Arms, I thank them so much for keeping us safe in this moment, when times become much more dangerous as we go. To the food services staff and the cafeteria staff who keep us fed, we are so grateful for that. I thank them. I thank the maintenance and client service personnel, the legal staff who keep us out of trouble, and the Library of Parliament staff, who make us sound smarter than I know we all are. I thank the tech staff, the IT staff who keep our phones running and keep our technology going for us. I thank the Speaker and the Speaker's office, and of course our incredible interpreters, who ask us so gently and kindly to send our notes, and we only sometimes do. I want to thank them very much as well. On my end, I also want to make sure that I thank the New Democrats' staff. It has been a difficult year for many of us. I am so very grateful for Blake, Christine, Jen, Peter and every one of the staff, who have been with us and who have done the important work. I would like to echo the thanks we have heard from other parties. Our families endure an awful lot while we come to do our work in this place. I also want to thank our families. I want to take this moment to encourage every one of us to go back to our ridings and to reflect on the great privilege that we have in serving in this place, and to come back in September perhaps kinder, perhaps more forgiving and perhaps more interested in rolling up our sleeves and getting to work for Canadians.

Mr. Speaker, this week, the Prime Minister claimed that Trump's war in Iran was “worth it.” Thousands were killed, including schoolchildren. Schools and hospitals were destroyed. Families and entire communities were displaced. Billions of dollars were wasted, and higher energy costs made life more expensive for Canadians who are already struggling. The world is no safer today than it was before the war. The Prime Minister hastily supported the attacks that started this war. How much more suffering is needed before the Prime Minister realizes this war was not “worth it”?

Mr. Speaker, more than 3,000 volunteers helped collect over 200,000 signatures from Albertans who are determined to protect our mountains, our rivers and our drinking water from the threat of coal mining. Albertans have spoken loudly and clearly. They know coal mining threatens critical watersheds, harms our wildlife habitat and risks contaminating the water that communities, ranchers, farmers and indigenous peoples depend upon. For years, Albertans have been fighting to stop reckless coal development in one of the most beautiful and ecologically important regions in our country. Today's achievement is proof that when governments refuse to listen, citizens will organize and make themselves impossible to ignore. Congratulations to Corb Lund, the Water Not Coal campaign and the hundreds of thousands of Albertans who stood up for our Rocky Mountains and our shared future. I am so proud to represent them.

Mr. Speaker, I am so proud today to stand and table petition e‑6783, which was signed by 10,182 Canadians. These Canadians are asking the government to apply the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act consistently for all those Canadian citizens returning from conflict zones. They are asking the Canadian government to initiate investigations and lay charges if warranted, and to co-operate with the international justice system, among other calls for action.

Mr. Speaker, I also have petition e‑6990. This is a petition that has been signed by over 6,000 Canadians. They are asking the government to amend the Canada Pension Plan act so that any province, including my province of Alberta, would require at least two-thirds of the other provinces to agree with that plan. They are asking for that to be applied because it is similar to other parts of the Canada Pension Plan act that require a two-thirds agreement.

Mr. Speaker, Doug Ford wants to force through a $5‑billion Billy Bishop expansion that the people of Toronto do not want. It is a good thing the Ontario NDP is fighting back, but where are the Liberal members of Parliament? They are nowhere to be found. In fact, they are hiding behind a sham consultation that community groups say is a waste of time, with no business case, no environmental assessment and no details. If Toronto Liberal MPs will not represent the people who elected them, will the Prime Minister step in and stop this scheme?

moved that Bill C-259, An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code (fair representation), be read the second time and referred to a committee. Madam Speaker, it is a great honour to stand today to debate this piece of legislation I have brought forward. I want to start by thanking my colleague, the member for Courtenay—Alberni, for seconding this bill. As a new Democrat, I can say I am so proud of our caucus and the work we have done in this Parliament to support and strengthen workers' rights. I think about the repealing of clause 107. I think about the work we have done to close loopholes in the anti-scab legislation to ensure workers are paid for the work that they do. I am so proud to be a New Democrat and to stand with members like the member for Courtenay—Alberni as the party representing workers in the House. I am also proud to speak to this legislation, Bill C-259, the fair representation bill, or as I like to call it, the wolf in sheep's clothing bill. Today, Parliament will debate a simple idea that workers deserve real representation. The fact is that real unions represent workers and fake unions do not. I want to thank the Canadian Labour Congress, the United Steelworkers, the Sheet Metal Workers' International Association, LiUNA Local 1611, the Building Trades, the International Union of Operating Engineers, IBEW, UA and other workers who stood with me today to talk about why this legislation is so important. I also want to thank the many unions and workers across this country who have pushed for this legislation and who have supported me along the way. I think about Scott Crichton, a member of IBEW Local 424 in my riding of Edmonton Strathcona, or Tyler Bedford from the Operating Engineers who have worked so closely to make sure this legislation comes to fruition. Unions support this legislation because unions in this country, the vast majority of them, do what unions are supposed to do. They fight for workers, raise wages, improve safety and strengthen communities. This bill is not about them. They are unions that do the work they are supposed to do. This bill is about fake unions. It is about unions that represent companies, not the workers. It is about unions that do not fight for their workers. It is a danger, because those are the unions that drive down wages, make workplaces less safe and undermine workers' rights. That happens within those unions, but it also happens across sectors, because what impacts one worker impacts us all. I want to be very clear that workers have asked for this legislation. This came from workers. It came from the concerns that have been raised by labour over many years. When we wanted to bring this legislation forward, we worked with workers, labour leaders, members of the building trades and others across the labour movement. I want to acknowledge the incredible work that Terry Parker and my friends at the Building Trades of Alberta did to help move this legislation forward. We have strong support from organized labour because real unions have nothing to fear from worker accountability. Real unions support this bill because it protects the rights they have fought for generations to win. Right now, there is a gap in the legislation. Federal law does recognize that employer-dominated unions are a problem. Subsection 25(1) of the Canada Labour Code says that employer-dominated unions cannot be certified. However, here is where my legislation is so necessary and so important: There is no way for workers to remedy that after certification. There is no worker-driven review process. There is no dedicated mechanism. There are no specific remedies. There are provinces in this country that have much stronger regulations against company unions, and federal workers deserve that same protection. What would this bill do? This bill would give workers a practical way to fight back. It would create a process for workers to raise concerns. It would allow workers to seek a review where there are allegations of employer domination or influence. It would require organizations to demonstrate their independence when concerns are raised. It would provide remedies where employer domination is found. It would reinforce a very simple principle that unions must answer to workers, not employers. This matters. It matters because when employer-dominated unions put employers first, we know that wages suffer. We know that working conditions suffer. We know that safety on the job for Canadian workers suffers. We know that bargaining power, a fundamental right of every worker in this country, the ability to bargain effectively, is taken away, and that right suffers. Workers deserve the confidence that the organization speaking for them is actually on their side. I want to tell the House a story as to why this matters. Today I had some folks from British Columbia join me. They told a story about Sam Fitzpatrick. This story illustrates for me why this issue is not theoretical. This is not just about what happens on paper. It impacts workers in our country. Sam Fitzpatrick was a 24‑year‑old who was working in Squamish, B.C. He was killed on the job in 2009. There were serious safety failures that were documented. Previous incidents were documented. His employer had promised it would do better, that it would not endanger the workers' safety. Concerns were raised. Risks remained. There was a WCAT review. In fact, the employer was described as “heedless”, “wanton”, “extreme”, “gross” and “highly irresponsible”. This is the employer. The union representing Sam Fitzpatrick was the CLAC, the Christian Labour Association of Canada. It wrote in and said, “a presidential penalty was not appropriate given the employer's prior demonstrated commitment to safety.” The CLAC literally argued that the corporation should be fined less for its incompetence and its failure to protect the life of a worker. It is unbelievable. A worker was killed, the family was seeking accountability, and the union representing that worker argued against the harshest penalty. That is not what a real union does. That is the opposite of what a real union does. Workers expect more from a union. Workers deserve more from a union. That is not the only example. Today I stood in the foyer with a photo of Sam Fitzpatrick, a 24‑year‑old worker. My children are that age. That man had parents. He had friends. He had people who loved him. There are other examples. In 2025, at the Executive Hotel Le Soleil, the B.C. Labour Relations Board found unlawful employer interference in the employees' choice of union. Management steered workers toward the CLAC and away from Unite Here Local 40. The board later voted that the employer's voluntary recognition agreement with the CLAC needed to be voided. It happened again with the EXchange Hotel in 2026, where there were findings of employer interference. There was pressure. There were inducements. There was employer support. Decisions were issued in 2025 and 2026. This is still happening in this country. This is not history. This is happening right now. I want to talk a bit about the international context. Union independence is recognized internationally as a core principle. In 2011, the ITUC suspended CLAC and said that workers deserve representation independent from employer influence. This is all happening right now. Millions of dollars in federal funding flowed to CLAC last year. The same year that the B.C. Labour Relations Board brought a finding against it for not properly representing its members, the federal government was spending millions of dollars and diverting that money there. In my home province of Alberta, the UCP government just announced a new $4-million training initiative being delivered in partnership with the CLAC. Workers are raising concerns, yet governments are continuing to write cheques. Workers deserve confidence, before public money is spent and before public money is handed over, that it is going to unions that represent workers. I will tell members some good news. Just months ago, more than 800 workers at an Edmonton manufacturing facility voted to leave CLAC and join the operating engineers, because they were dissatisfied with the representation they were receiving. It was one of the largest departures from CLAC in Canadian history, and it happened not decades ago, but last year. When I talk about federally regulated workplaces, I am talking about everyone who is working in those workspaces, which is roughly one million workers. These are workers in transportation, telecommunications, broadcasting, banking, grain handling, longshoring and federally regulated construction. These workers deserve protection. They deserve to be represented by a union that will represent them and only them. That is what this legislation would do. In this country, workers are worried. They are worried about affordability. They are worried about wages. They are worried about job security. The economic war we are having with the United States, the tariffs and the economic impacts are causing uncertainty. The moves that the Liberal government is making to strip workers of their rights, such as the use of section 107, a backdoor method to force workers back to work, continue to undermine the rights of workers in this country. This legislation would give workers their rights back, because workers need stronger protections, not weaker protections. The Liberals and the Conservatives say they support workers. This is their opportunity to prove it. Real unions answer to workers. Employer-dominated unions do not. Fake unions do not. Let us put power back where it belongs. Let us put power back with workers.

Madam Speaker, it is very clear. A good union that represents workers' rights is elected democratically by the members, and it answers only to the members. That is the definition of a good, democratic union. I stood today with Siobhán Vipond, the vice-president of the Canadian Labour Congress, and she spoke about the democracy within the labour movement. I think it is important for us to recognize that democratically elected leadership that is responsible to the members, and only to the members, is a key component of good union leadership, of good union representation. That is what this bill would do. It would actually protect the right of workers to trust and know, without any doubt, that who is representing them is only representing their interests.

Madam Speaker, the 25% threshold is a screening threshold. It is not a decision threshold. I think that is important to clarify. It ensures that a meaningful number of workers support a review before the board is asked to investigate allegations of employer domination. At the same time, it is significantly lower than the threshold required to remove a bargaining agent or trigger a representation vote. The threshold balances accessibility for workers with the stability in labour relations.

Madam Speaker, this is an excellent question. These principles of democracy that protect workers' rights are fundamental. She is absolutely correct in that the attacks on worker rights are not just happening by our federal government in Canada. They are happening around the world. Corporations are undermining workers' rights. Governments in Canada and around the world are undermining workers' rights. People are trying to take away the rights of workers to use their right to collective bargaining, to demand safe workspaces, to demand pay for the work that they do.

Mr. Speaker, steel is not just another commodity in a trade ledger. Steel is the backbone of our economy. It builds our bridges, our transit systems, our housing, our energy projects and our manufacturing capacity. It is quite simply economic sovereignty in physical form, and if we cannot make it here, we are not economically sovereign. Steelworkers were in Ottawa recently to remind the government of that reality, and they were very clear. They did not come for photo ops; they came for a plan. They came for a national steel strategy, because steelworkers know something the government too often forgets: We do not build national economies by shutting out the people who actually do the work, the people who actually build. The United Steelworkers are calling for a comprehensive national steel industrial strategy, one that invests in domestic capacity, that strengthens supply chains and that protects good union jobs across this country. They are joined by the Canadian Labour Congress, which represents over three million workers who have been equally clear that workers must be at the table when decisions are being made about their futures. Right now, that is not what we are seeing. We are seeing CEOs and political insiders included in advisory structures. We are seeing labour excluded or minimized, and we are seeing the very people who built this economy treated as an afterthought in the decisions that shape it. That raises a simple question for me: How can the government claim to stand with workers while locking them out of the room? We have seen what happens when we invest in Canadian steel capacity. In Sault Ste. Marie, recent steel investments that were supported by the United Steelworkers and Local 2251 helped modernize production, and that is a great step, but it is a one-off. That is not a strategy, and what we need in this country is a strategy to move us forward. When steel is strong, the communities in which steelworkers work are strong, and when steel is weakened, everything else follows. I asked the government two simple questions. Will it work with the United Steelworkers to develop and implement a comprehensive national steel strategy? Why has it excluded labour, specifically the USW and the Canadian Labour Congress, from the CUSMA advisory council? Of course, we were happy to see that Unifor was included in that, but for the three million Canadians represented by the Canadian Labour Congress, not having the CLC at that table is a very big oversight. We are in a period of extraordinary trade instability. Tariffs and trade disruptions from the United States are not theoretical. They are real, and they are already hurting Canadian workers. That does not mean things on a spreadsheet. That means people not being able to pay their mortgage, not being able to pay their bills and not knowing where their next paycheque is coming from. We need to see more urgency, we need to see more action and we need to see the government recognize the impact this is having on Canadian workers.

Mr. Speaker, that response shows that the government is not acting with the urgency that workers require. Instead of a place at the table, and instead of an actual strategy, the government is giving announcements without accountability and consultations without inclusion, and it is getting public dollars without finding guarantees. This is why New Democrats are very clear: Every federal dollar spent to support Canadian industry must come with enforceable conditions, not voluntary commitments and not good intentions, but legal and binding protections for Canadian jobs, Canadian production and Canadian workers. There must be no more blank cheques to corporations and broken promises to workers. If taxpayers take the risk, workers deserve the return. This is not radical. This is basic accountability.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my support of Bill S-227. I want to thank Senator Mohammad Al Zaibak for introducing the bill, and I want to note that this legislation, an identical bill, was brought forward and passed unanimously in the previous Parliament but of course died on the Order Paper before receiving Senate consideration. Canada's Arab communities have contributed enormously to our country, and they deserve the recognition that reflects their place in our shared story. Canada is home to more than one million Arab Canadians. The first recorded arrival of people of Arab origin dates back to 1882, in the early years following Confederation. Arab Canadians have enriched every aspect of Canadian life, including arts and culture, language and literature, and food and hospitality. I would be remiss if I did not use this opportunity to raise people's awareness of the incredible Lebanese and Arab food in my community, including at Fattoush, a restaurant on Whyte Avenue in my riding that is run by Randa Alead. It is a wonderful place. Everyone should stop in if they are in Edmonton. Arab Canadians have contributed to business and entrepreneurship, and to public service and politics. I would like to give a shout-out to Joe Hak, a Lebanese Canadian who unfortunately passed away two months ago but who was a real leader in our community, a real leader for Lebanese Canadians in Edmonton and across this country. Arab Canadians have been leaders in faith communities and with civic leadership. Arab Canadians are not newcomers to the Canadian story. They have helped write the Canadian story for generations. Heritage months are opportunities to educate, celebrate and reflect, and they help future generations understand the contributions of communities that have helped build this country. Recognition sends an important message to young Arab Canadians that they belong, that they are valued and that their stories matter. That is important for many reasons, but I reflect on the last few years when I have travelled across this country speaking to people, as the foreign affairs critic for the New Democratic Party, about what has been happening within Palestine. I also reflect on people of Arab descent's telling me that they feel like their government does not see them and does not see them as citizens. This moment in time is important for us as Parliament and as a country to recognize the important contributions Arab Canadians make. It is also important when we look at the rise of Islamophobia, anti-Arab racism and anti-Palestinian racism across this country. Members will recall the Quebec City mosque attack in 2017, the murder of the Afzaal family in London, Ontario, in 2021 and the ongoing vandalism and attacks targeting mosques and Muslim communities. In my city of Edmonton and across this country, Arab Canadians continue to experience discrimination and hate. Where hate tries to divide us, parliamentarians have a responsibility to affirm that every community belongs. The bill is about more than symbolism. It would create opportunities for schools, community organizations, municipalities, provinces and cultural institutions to celebrate and educate Canadians about the diversity and achievements of Arab communities. It would highlight the diversity of the Arab world and the many cultures, languages, traditions and experiences represented within it. New Democrats proudly support Bill S-227. We reaffirm our commitment to standing against racism, colonialism, hatred and war, and we celebrate the rich contributions of Arab Canadians to Canada's social fabric. Arab heritage month would help ensure that the stories, achievements, struggles and contributions of Arab Canadians are recognized not only during one month each year but as an essential part of Canada's past, present and future. I urge all members to support the bill.

Mr. Speaker, happy Pride Month. This month, we celebrate the joy, courage and resilience of queer, trans and two-spirited communities across Canada. Pride is a celebration, but it is also a protest. It was born from people standing up and demanding dignity, equality and freedom to live openly as themselves. That is why I am especially proud to congratulate Pride Corner in my constituency. For five years, Pride Corner has rejected hate and brought people together in community and joy. To every queer, trans and two-spirited person in this country, they are loved, they belong and they are not alone. Happy Pride Month. Be proud, be loud and let us keep fighting for a better future for all.