Canadian labour looks forward to working with new Liberal Government

The Canadian Labour Congress is congratulating Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on his swearing-in and the appointment of his new cabinet, and looks forward to working with the new government to address key priorities for working Canadians.

“We are looking forward to constructive collaboration with Prime Minister Trudeau and his cabinet ministers to implement the progressive change promised during the election campaign,” said CLC president Hassan Yussuff.

“We hope to be meeting very soon with Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour, Mary Ann Mihychuk to discuss working together to address key priorities for workers today, and hope the new government fulfills its commitment to repeal the anti-labour bills C-377 and C-525 as quickly as possible,” he added.

The CLC has long campaigned for measures to address retirement insecurity, and was pleased to see the Liberals commit to CPP expansion, restoring the eligibility age for Old Age Security and the Guaranteed Income Supplement to 65, and increasing the GIS by 10 percent.

“We are excited at the possibility of real progress on this very critical priority and look forward to collaborating with Minister of Finance, Bill Morneau, to help make a more secure future possible for all Canadians,” said Yussuff.

Yussuff highlighted other key Liberal campaign promises he hopes the new government will act upon swiftly. Those included:

• Expanding training and apprenticeship opportunities to help Canadians – particularly young Canadians – find and keep good jobs;
• Significantly increasing infrastructure funding, including new, dedicated funding for public transit, social infrastructure like seniors and child care facilities, and green infrastructure;
• Beginning to turn back more than $36 billion in Conservative cuts to health care by investing $3 billion over the next four years to improve home care, mental health services and access to prescription drugs;
• Significantly increasing the number of Syrian refugees accepted to Canada, and to providing the necessary resources to resettle as many refugees as soon as possible; and
• Immediately launching a national public inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women.

The Canadian Labour Congress represents over 3.3 million union members who work in every industry and live in every province and territory. We are the voice of Canada’s labour movement.