Canada should use existing legislation to fight US trade policy and punish companies moving Canadian jobs offshore, says the country’s largest private-sector union.
“As tariffs persist, and threats of layoff and plant closures mount, further aggressive and defensive action must be taken to solidify Canada’s industrial economy,” Unifor National President Lana Payne said in a letter sent to Prime Minister Mark Carney on May 16.
Unifor wants Carney’s government to use the Foreign Extraterritorial Measures Act (FEMA) to penalize corporations that shift production from Canada to the US due to President Donald Trump’s trade policies.
“The consequences for offshoring jobs must be real, enforceable, and immediate,” Payne said.
FEMA allows the attorney general to identify and prohibit businesses in Canada from complying with measures taken by foreign states — in this case the US — that adversely affect Canadian trade, commerce or sovereignty. The law came into force in 1985, and Brian Mulroney’s government used the act in 1992 to make sure Canadian companies were not obeying the US directive to sanction Cuba.
“These orders can make it a federal offence to move production out of Canada in response to foreign trade measures, carrying penalties of up to $1.5 million for corporations and up to five years’ imprisonment for individuals, currently,” Payne’s letter said. Along with using the act immediately, Unifor wants the federal government to strengthen it.
The maximum $1.5-million fine “is clearly not going to be enough,” Payne said, adding that since the legislation was written decades ago it needs updated penalties, among other changes.
“With the House of Commons set to reconvene next week, we are also asking the government to consider legislative amendments to include heavier fines imposed on firms that shift production, the ability to seize assets of companies, as well as restricting imports from corporations and companies that offshore Canadian investment and jobs,” Payne said in a virtual press conference on Tuesday morning.
Unifor Director of Research Angelo DiCaro said the act has never been used in the context of a trade war.
“There hasn't really been [a trade war], and so it's almost like this is, in some ways, tailor-made to the situation we face,” DiCaro said in the virtual press conference.
Trump’s trade policies are already impacting Canadian workers, particularly in the auto sector.
In early May, General Motors said it will eliminate one of three shifts at its Oshawa assembly plant this fall due to “forecasted demand” and “the evolving trade environment.”
This move will directly affect 700 workers and indirectly impact an estimated 1,500 more.
General Motors recently shuttered its CAMI assembly plant in Ingersoll, although it expected to reopen at “half capacity” in autumn. Ford and Stellantis have also suspended or delayed EV production in Canada, and Honda recently pumped the brakes on its own $15-billion EV supply chain plans.
Ontario’s manufacturing sector will be hit hard unless something changes, according to a recent report from Ontario’s Financial Accountability Office. It warned the province could lose up to 68,100 jobs in 2025 as a result of US tariffs and Canada’s retaliatory tariffs. The analysis was based on trade measures as of April 17.
“We will continue to do whatever we have to do to protect Canadian workers, including picket lines or whatever other tools we have at our disposal,” Payne said.
“But the reality is not every worker in this country has a union and we need government to step up and stand up for all Canadian workers, and this is one of the ways that they can do that.”
— With files from Abdul Matin Sarfraz & Darius Snieckus
Natasha Bulowski / Local Journalism Initiative / Canada’s National Observer
Comments
If not outright punishment at the very least make the public aware (by ongoing lists that are kept updated) of who went where so that they/we can make a purchasing choice of our own. Not only do we get to vote we also get to spend our hard earned dollars where we want and from whom we want. So we should be made aware of which companies leave and which companies in Canada are owned by foreign owners so that we can spend our money the way we want to. We should also be made aware of which companies received grants and subsidies and when they received them and are they going to pay them back before leaving.
Good points on grants and subsidies, they should be paid back if they leave or offshore workers.
Good luck there enforcing anything. With unions, it is always all about them, while ignoring the rest of the country. Better to publicly list companies that move jobs offshore and especially those who received any government subsidies or incentives.
Then like boycotting USA products, consumers can start to boycott these companies who move jobs offshore.
Speaking of unions, take Canada Postal workers for example. Canada Post is effectively bankrupt yet demand no impact to their jobs and wanted increased wages. Where the reality is, the workforce needs to be cut in half and mail delivered only once a week on an area rotating basis and focus on package delivery 7 days a week to compete with other companies. Sometimes unions need to face reality, once they bankrupt an entity, they need to restructure and that includes a change in business direction and people required with the restructuring.
When governments want to privatize they tell us how bad this is doing and how it doesn't work anymore and on and on and on when in reality they want rid of it and the employees and the union and they want to privatize (you know where they give their friends future income). That's just the way it is. I do not believe their story and also there are many ways they could make Canada Post lucrative i.e. banking etc. . Bottome line is they don't want to.
To: Mr. Akermanis.
"with unions its always about them" huh? if unions don't look after their own, who will? Nobody, of course, so that is why it is all about them - duh!
Don't be so narrow minded. I've never had to join a union but I support them and the principle of unionization. I follow a few unions via email and I can attest that it is definitely not always all about them. Unions support the communities they live in, contribute to good causes, support youth sports, and a myriad of other actions and especially political campaigns Let us not carelessly denigrate UNIONS - like the plutocrats do.
In general the union members I have been acquainted with may grumble about their leadership from time to time, but most of them are a damn sight more knowledgeable about the economics and politics of our various levels of government - than the un-unionized who are so browbeaten by their employment conditions they have no energy for anything but hanging on to their jobs.
This is one of the reasons employers hate unions - they have to deal with people who know too much for the employers liking. In the very few unionized businesses that get along with their unions, it is because those unions have a stake in the health of their employer's enterprize. Those unions treated well by employers are more than willing to help out, propose workable solutions to problems and even sacrifice their own pay packets to help a boss over a rough spot. A smart boss will pay them back but we are for damn sure woefully lacking in smart bosses. The corporate world has forsaken smarts for predatory criminality.
Well said. I guess people are not getting the story of the working man in school anymore. There was a time, especially in the mining industry, where employees spent their whole working day in the depths of the earth for scant wages and when payday came, lo and behold they owed the employer because he supplied shelter and credit at the grocer. If it wasn't for the employees finally having had enough and getting together to demand some respect and eventually creating Unions I have a feeling we'd all be in the same situation. We know that 'some' still are don't we. Unions brought us fair wages, decent hours, benefits and other fair reasons to keep on working. Trouble is once the profits get higher and higher their bottom line gets higher and thus they never, ever make enough money and the employee is their 'enemy'.
I don't like what is going on at Canada Post right now because it is the sign of an uncertain future. Shortages of teachers and nurses are also telling us what the future looks like and it isn't pretty. Funny how the Nursing Agencies are run by wealthy (sometimes ex-politicians) and their families which is really, really, really disgusting.