Legislating Air Canada back to work

http://bit.ly/j6noOh

"The Harper government is threatening to legislate an end to the Air Canada strike if union negotiators and company management can't reach a deal."

This is very odd indeed.

First, the company says there will be no disruption of service -- unless we accept they are wrong why do we need back to work legislation?

Second, and far more important, Air Canada is just another business. It competes with other airlines and if it has labour trouble, well, so be it. There is no obvious national imperative to keep Air Canada profitable ahead of, say, West Jet and Porter.

Of course, in the long run, an imposed solution may prove catastrophic for Air Canada and the Union -- the pension issue needs resolution (and here West Jet, lacking a pension and working off profit sharing has a huge advantage) and an imposed solution may well just put off the inevitable.

Finally, and perhaps this is just the disgruntled Liberal in me speaking, since when has a Conservative government seen it right to be so proactive in business affairs? Isn't a labour dispute a private matter? Air Canada is a private company; why does its employee issues rise to the level of parliamentary intervention?