00:00:00.000are we really going to allow for critical infrastructure in this country
00:00:06.960airports seaports railways and the shipping industry to be shut down every single year
00:00:14.780by greedy unions who want to just continue to make more money at the expense of the Canadian
00:00:20.940people are we really going to allow that or is there potentially a solution to this problem
00:00:26.880just last month Canada Post workers went on strike during the Christmas season intentional
00:00:33.960timing of course earlier in the year during tax season CRA workers went on strike at the
00:00:40.560beginning of pretty much every single school year public sector teachers unions go on strike
00:00:47.340is there an opportunity to create a solution that works for everyone that works for Canadians
00:00:52.980and workers and can guarantee good wages and good working conditions let's see if we can figure that
00:01:00.720out well joining us now on the Faulkner show is Gwyn Morgan one of Canada's foremost business leaders
00:01:07.080and a long-time business executive he has recently published in C2C Journal an article titled Strike
00:01:14.400Force how powerful unions like Canada's postal workers divide Canadians and damage the economy
00:01:21.120now for transparency purposes I should note that Mr Morgan is a supporter and donor of true north but
00:01:27.780let's get into it so uh Mr Morgan thank you for joining us in the show take us through the points you make in
00:01:33.420this C2C article about how powerful unions can hold Canada Canada's economy hostage well Canadians are
00:01:42.120unfortunately getting used to strikes and the big over the last year or so we've seen rail strikes we've seen uh port strikes and other strikes of its major important infrastructure of the country
00:01:58.620um and those uh have been uh basically big big uh unions against big companies if you like what I said and and of course that's been a
00:02:12.060terribly stressful in different ways for Canadians but what really uh is is is even a bigger problem
00:02:19.980um is the stuff that affects every everyday people on their work and their and their businesses now the postal workers strike is the best example or the worst example if I can put it that way of that I mean here we are uh and and I also said in the article that uh there's something about unions that they they always try to plan their time their strikes to what this could be the most harmful to their customers
00:02:47.980uh in the case of the postal workers uh customers is just about everybody and here we have small businesses right now as we speak uh you know the the fact they're going back to work right in today I guess it is or whatever
00:03:02.820um is it's too late because people have already made other arrangements if they could uh and a lot of small businesses depend upon uh and other businesses too depend upon uh the the christmas
00:03:17.860season for something like 60 to 70 percent of their revenues and they're in almost all their profits so uh this is very harmful and it's it's it's it's just symptomatic that how unions plan to do their uh their deeds if you like that when it'll harm Canadians the most
00:03:37.860you mentioned in the article that there have been 120 work stoppages just in the first nine months
00:03:44.660of 2024 is there is there a solution here that can be put into place to avoid this from happening because
00:03:52.080you know it's probably a bit of a slippery slope right you want to be able to give people the opportunity to
00:03:57.360uh to protest for better rights but surely there's got to be a balance so what do you think could be a solution to this
00:04:03.860well what a lot of these things these whether it be the railways or the postal services and many others
00:04:11.280these are basically essential services uh we do have essential services applying to certain sectors
00:04:18.580but not enough and uh it seems to me that when we come to the things that are really important to
00:04:25.300everybody including hospital workers and so on uh we we have to have them as essential services
00:04:31.380and then then what happens then of course is it goes to an arbitration process and and and uh there's
00:04:39.540the the result is at least a tempered by the fact that they're there they can't go and strike
00:04:47.220that and so we we what i said in the article this i think maybe is the key thing harrison
00:04:52.900is that we're seeing a divide of canadians between the unionized and non-union
00:04:57.860that a lot of people can't join a union because the nature of their business
00:05:03.380or what so most people can't actually um so so they're stuck they're the ones that are victims
00:05:11.940and the unions over the last year or so or even a year a few years but even more the last year where
00:05:18.820it's been terrible there there's been six million workers days of have lost due to strikes
00:05:28.500six million and that is incredible so so i think that the the and it has gone way up over the last
00:05:35.780couple of years so when you have that impact on canadians um and and they they don't really care
00:05:44.340that's that's the problem uh they don't care about their customers and about the people they're
00:05:50.100harming they only care about themselves but i then i'm not saying that you know this is a way every
00:05:56.500union member thinks but it's a fact that that the the the arm to canadians is done and other canadians
00:06:06.260are helpless and so um we we really have a divide we have two different classes of people in the
00:06:12.980country we have the unionized and non-union and that divide is growing and more painful all the time
00:06:20.500two different classes of people if you like those that are enjoying the privileges of higher wages and
00:06:30.820that almost all of them have much higher benefits than the average canadian so this is it and when
00:06:39.460they i guess you rub salt into that wound the way they've been acting it's even more
00:06:45.300uh imperative that we do something about this and i think what we do about it is we put in essential
00:06:51.700services legislation one of those one of one of the examples of strikes that really you know frustrates
00:06:58.820me and i think many people because you know we live in i live in ontario and so we see the public
00:07:05.060school teachers striking basically every year now and they have been really since uh since 2018 since
00:07:11.700doug ford came into power they've been striking every year because every year they're going to try
00:07:16.420to get more money and they know that eventually the government will just cave so you see public
00:07:21.140school teachers striking uh a couple of years ago college professor college teachers and employees
00:07:27.060began striking and they shut down the education season i would agree with you i think that uh i think
00:07:33.460that you know public sector unions uh you know are able to influence a lot uh influence quite a lot
00:07:41.220when they go on strike so uh you're recommending that critical infrastructure uh strikes not be allowed in
00:07:48.820this country that legislation would come through to prevent that from happening
00:07:51.780absolutely and what that what that what that prevention is in fairness is is an arbitration
00:07:58.500process uh but but not strikes right and we we just can't carry on like this this country is becoming
00:08:05.700a basket case in so many different ways uh and this is just adds to it do you know if canada is an outlier
00:08:12.900in this situation because the only other example i can think of is the constant rail strikes in the uk
00:08:19.620right uh you you hear about that and that basically shuts down the the uk economy when the rail workers
00:08:24.820go on strike but do you know if canada is an outlier in the rate at which our critical infrastructure
00:08:30.340workers go on strike and just stop working well our biggest trade department isn't very far away just
00:08:37.540across the border and they they lose something like one percent of days the strikes we lose a lot like
00:08:45.620many times so there is we're an outlier against our major trading partner where our productivity rate
00:08:53.140is lowered everything about the country is not performing as well and this just adds to that
00:08:58.420non-performance and means that we have less and less our standard living goes down compared to the
00:09:04.100americans and other countries it seems to me that part of this is also uh very political right a lot of
00:09:11.780these unions some of these public sector unions and and even the private sector unions get engaged
00:09:18.500in politics and donate money to political candidates and start running ads against conservative candidates
00:09:25.460how has that been allowed to happen because i look at it and i just think okay surely this
00:09:30.180sure this isn't right how many union members are conservatives want to vote conservative but their
00:09:34.500union is out here making anti-conservative ads and engaging in politics has it always been like that
00:09:42.660i guess it's to a degree it has been it's just gone it's gone way over the top the last year or two and
00:09:48.740and it has to stop and that's the the fundamental thing our country is is sinking compared to not
00:09:55.700only the us but other countries and in very almost every way and this is just another one what do you make of
00:10:04.020how it appears at least if polling is uh is accurate that that a lot of workers in this country a lot of
00:10:11.220manufacturing workers who would traditionally be in support of these strikes be traditionally part of
00:10:17.860that labor uh social uh ndp coalition what do you make of the fact that so many of them are now looking
00:10:24.260to vote for pierre pauliev that the conservatives have somehow been able to find voters in this group
00:10:30.420of people is that a surprise to you which well i don't know how many of the peer probably of supporters
00:10:37.460are unionized and and especially the mill that millen sector of the union movement um but i think it's
00:10:45.860it's it's it's it's the his the the peer pauliev's appeal is is is basically to people who who are being
00:10:53.780harmed in so many different ways or can't get ahead and so on and the unions are part of that
00:11:00.900and maybe uh some of the maybe i'm sure there's a lot of people in units who really think they're
00:11:08.260not doing whether what they should be doing in terms of striking and their job actions and so on
00:11:13.700but but they're they even if there's 30 40 percent of them they can't speak up it's just impossible for
00:11:22.020them they need a bigger champion and that's pierre pauliev you've been a business leader for a long
00:11:29.620time i'm sure you've had to uh interact with union bosses at some point or uh clash with them to some
00:11:36.020degree what have you what do you make of the current lineup we see some of these union leaders
00:11:41.700uh i believe it's fred hahn who's the ontario qp leader these union leaders seem to be
00:11:50.420very political very opinionated very biased has that always been the case or has it or and are
00:11:56.580they getting worse do you think it hasn't always been the case and it's yeah it has to some degree
00:12:03.060but it's getting worse there's no question and and you know the thing is that uh what when ideology
00:12:10.180gets in the way of what you're supposed to be doing which is to run a union and and do whatever
00:12:17.060you can to do the best of your members when when that is also uh you know added to or exempted by or
00:12:25.380whatever uh put the political beliefs and actions and when they're when they're putting their own
00:12:31.460political beliefs in front of both to their union members and the public we have a problem
00:12:40.500it was the it was the liberal government that uh that passed anti-scab legislation anti uh you know
00:12:47.700forced back to work legislation earlier this year i believe maybe last year but i have to ask you why
00:12:54.420would a liberal why would it why would a federal government do this when as you've articulated in
00:12:59.780the c2c article and as you've articulated here this is just very bad for the canadian economy is
00:13:05.860are they just pandering for votes are they desperate for anything they can get their hands on
00:13:09.460well i think you know they're they're they liberal government is they're not sure what
00:13:16.740they're doing about almost anything and i think that this is just sort of adds to it but i think
00:13:22.180that the you know the problem one of the problems is of course that that the unions uh are not only as
00:13:30.100you say uh doing their job as union leaders to get the best deals and so on for their members
00:13:35.460they're also very political and and and so uh their politics and they're all their straight many
00:13:43.460extreme left-wing politics are are being forced upon to feel like i mean if i'm a union member and i
00:13:49.780believe i'm i believe in peer probably it was uh solutions to the country am i going to say anything
00:13:58.260you know the the the fact is the leaders uh have are dominant over top of their their union members
00:14:05.860and uh and that's a scary thing too when you think about it you know it appears as though
00:14:11.540the uh the federal government don't know how to read basic balance sheets don't know how to
00:14:16.820operate an economy you certainly do and you've had that experience so i want to ask you heading into
00:14:21.940what is likely to be the last year of the liberal government an economy that appears to be in a tailspin
00:14:28.020what would you do to try to get this country back on track in a strong fiscal position
00:14:34.020well it's the first of all you stop the bleeding you make better decisions about what will but you
00:14:41.380know the our productivity rate is has fallen way down the last by 30 40 percent in the last few years
00:14:50.420and productivity is another way of saying standard living because it's what the whole economy can buy
00:14:55.860and what that means people so when you're in that situation uh you have to stop the bleeding and uh
00:15:04.500and and you know that there's no no other way but to reverse course but the fact is we're we're in
00:15:10.340such a hole uh when we're 30 to 40 percent lower productivity than our major trading partner
00:15:18.820and people it's what it what it amounts to is productivity people talk about what's that mean
00:15:23.860that's what the goods and services on average that we produce in the country per person and when that
00:15:30.020falls standards living falls buying power falls people start to earn more that we're we're in this uh
00:15:37.060precipitous drop then the only thing we can do is first of all bring in a government that has a whole
00:15:44.180different approach but also um creates confidence that people you know we have more money leaving
00:15:52.820the country for investment than we have investing in the country and and so when when people and this
00:15:59.860means you know here i am you know where would i put my money if i'm investing you know we're going to
00:16:05.060put it into the canadian market right now then then that's the way a lot of people feel and that is
00:16:11.780that's a sort of a brace to the bottom if you like and it can only change fundamentally by the
00:16:18.500fundamental politics of the country just how bad are the uh are the proposed tariffs that donald trump
00:16:26.100has threatened canada with going to be for our economy well you know um donald trump is a poker player
00:16:36.580and he puts it puts a big stakes up and he's got the lots of because he's got a big stack of bills
00:16:41.380beside him so he can he can he can bet big and so he's uh he's he's he's not gonna put 25 on canadian
00:16:52.340oil or or or the products that the the parts that go back and forth across the border that the
00:16:57.620auto companies need and and so but but he's he's a great poker player and he's putting that up there
00:17:06.740because it gets it has shock value and part of the shock value of course is other things like drugs
00:17:13.460going i mean canada you know if you look at people okay canada likes to think they're lily
00:17:18.980light on the whole drug movement but there's a huge amount of fendil being produced in this country
00:17:24.820and he knows that and as much as uh we try to cover it up it's true so he knows that and and so
00:17:33.620he's a poker player and he and he he he figures well okay i'll i'll talk about this one and then
00:17:39.460then they'll have to solve it and they and we do have to solve so that's uh if you and if you just
00:17:45.940come forward and say well let's negotiate this um you know you're probably not going to get very far
00:17:52.020but he he's serious and he's and he's strong and he's got the capability to do what he's saying
00:17:57.540even though in reality uh there's a lot of problems with that with it with functionally and
00:18:04.100practically but that doesn't matter when you're a poker player you put the big stakes on the table
00:18:08.820and you say okay uh what's your next card last question i have for you uh mr morgan is you have
00:18:16.420confidence in the canadian economy over the next year do you think uh things are going to get worse or do
00:18:21.540you think there's a chance that they might start to get a little better well you know it depends
00:18:27.380on when the election is uh really i'm i'm serious i mean i think a lot of it has to do with confidence
00:18:33.620the people that are sending their money south on other places for invest uh uh aren't going to change
00:18:40.900until they see a real change in in approach and and in so many parts of this uh this country that we're
00:18:47.940uh politically that we're we're going downhill on so i think that's going to be another tough year
00:18:55.140uh but uh uh there's nothing like there's nothing like a return of confidence to change people's
00:19:03.300attitudes and that alone uplifts everything all right well let's hope it's let's hope it does we'll
00:19:10.740have to leave it there uh gwen morgan thank you so much for joining us the article in the c2c journal which
00:19:16.500you can find in the link to this video is titled strike force how powerful unions like canada's
00:19:22.260postal workers divide canadians and damage the economy once again mr morgan thank you so much for