Wednesday, January 28, 2026

CLAC Responds to Heather McPherson’s Private Member’s Bill

Union sets the record straight on misleading claims by the MP, reaffirming its decades-long record of worker advocacy, democratic representation, and constructive partnership

News

OTTAWA—At a press conference yesterday, Heather McPherson, MP for Edmonton Strathcona and leadership candidate for the NDP, announced that she has tabled a private member’s bill targeting “company unions.” In her remarks, McPherson identifies the Christian Labour Association of Canada (CLAC) as the target of her bill.

Wayne Prins, CLAC’s Executive Director, said in response, “Nothing in this bill advances the interests of everyday working Canadians, and nothing in it provides protections that don’t already exist in every labour code in Canada.” He went on to say that “McPherson’s bill and desperate attempts to discredit CLAC are about clinching support for her leadership bid.”

In her press conference announcing the tabling of her bill, McPherson criticized CLAC’s approach to labour relations by suggesting “there can be no collaboration—that is not the way a union works. . . . Unions cannot work with the employer.” McPherson’s statements put her at odds with the two representatives of the Carpenter’s union who flanked her at her press conference. On the Carpenter’s website, it claims partnership as a goal and states that “the UBC believes that a construction project can only succeed when employees and employers partner together. Union employers need workers with the right skills, attitude, and productivity to profit in a competitive business.”

McPherson’s comments stand in stark contrast to even the Canadian Labour Congress’s (CLC) approach to labour relations. The CLC emphasizes social dialogue and constructive engagement between parties. McPherson’s comments are a desperate attempt to garner favour with rival unions to CLAC, and they expose a remarkable lack of understanding of real labour relations in Canada.

In recent decades, CLAC’s member-centric approach and vision for workplace organization have resulted in steady and continued member growth, despite union density in Canada being on a steady decline. This too puts CLAC in regular contest with mainstream trade unions that are losing ground with regular working Canadians.

CLAC’s nonpartisan posture is also a contrast to the traditional labour movement, which has historically aligned itself with and directed funding to the NDP. CLAC has long held that working dues collected from union members should not be directed to partisan initiatives.

In her media event, McPherson blatantly misrepresents labour board rulings, citing a case from 2002 in Nova Scotia where the province’s Supreme Court upheld a decision by the Nova Scotia Labour Relations Board Construction Industry Panel that employers in the construction industry may bargain only “with one (1) or more of fourteen (14) international skilled trade or craft trade unions all with headquarters in Washington, D.C.” The decision excluded not only CLAC but all other unions from representing construction workers in Nova Scotia.

She also cites a Manitoba case where an employer is found guilty of an unfair labour practice but fails to mention that CLAC took that same company to arbitration to defend the worker at the centre of that case from unjust termination. CLAC has already advised Ms. McPherson that her statements are defamatory, and that continuing to repeat such comments in public will force CLAC to seek recourse in the courts.

Regarding CLAC’s distinctive place on the Canadian labour scene, Prins says, “CLAC enthusiastically stands by its commitment to serving the members and advancing the interests of Canadian workers. That we continue to be democratically selected as the union of choice for so many Canadians confirms that CLAC’s values resonate with everyday workers.”

CLAC Responds to Heather McPherson’s Private Member’s Bill

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