Dear Prime Minister Carney,

The Edmonton Chamber of Commerce takes no position on the current dispute between WestJet and CUPE Local 8125, or on the merits of either side's bargaining position. Collective bargaining is a right, and both parties are exercising it as intended.

What we cannot stay silent on is the pattern this dispute now represents. In the span of a few years, Canada has seen major disruptions at the Port of Vancouver, on CN and CP Rail, along the St. Lawrence Seaway, and now in national air travel.

For Edmonton, the impacts are not abstract. Edmonton International Airport generates $5.4 billion in annual economic output and supports over 22,690 jobs¹, and a significant share of that activity is tied to WestJet, the airport's largest carrier. The airport also anchors Port Alberta, the region's designated inland port and Foreign Trade Zone, where air, rail and road converge to move cargo for exporters across the Prairies who depend on that reliability to reach international markets. A work stoppage does not just strand travellers over a long weekend. It disrupts cargo movement, connections through the inland port, and the confidence of businesses that have built supply chains around Edmonton being dependable. Edmonton, and the broader business community, carry that cost without having negotiated any part of it.

This is not a hypothetical concern for your government either. In May, your Minister of Transport stood in Edmonton for the groundbreaking of a new International Cargo Hub at Edmonton International Airport, an investment your own government made on the premise that Edmonton is a reliable gateway for moving Canadian goods to global markets. Our Chamber was proud to host Minister MacKinnon here that same week, where he spoke about strengthening trade corridors and supply chain resilience, and named improving labour relations as one of the priorities standing between Canada and that goal². A government that has just backed Edmonton's reliability withreal capital, and already identified labour relations as unfinished business, has every reason to see this dispute as more than a one-off.

The stakes extend beyond this one investment. Your government is weeks away from hosting the first-ever Canadian Investment Summit, and what is at risk there is exactly the question this dispute raises. Investors evaluating Canada are not asking whether a labour dispute happened. They are asking whether the country's transportation infrastructure can be counted on. A single dispute is routine. A pattern of them is a risk assessment.

We are not asking your government to intervene in this dispute, and we are not asking for the erosion of collective bargaining rights. We are asking for something more durable: a serious federal review of how Canada manages labour relations in nationally significant transportation infrastructure, so that reliability is treated as a public interest, not an afterthought each time a contract expires.

We would welcome the opportunity to contribute Alberta's perspective to any such review.

Sincerely,

Doug Griffiths
President & CEO
Edmonton Chamber of Commerce & the World Trade Centre Edmonton

cc: The Honourable Steven MacKinnon, Minister of Transport and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons,The Honourable Patty Hajdu, Minister of Jobs and Families, The Honourable Eleanor Olszewski, Minister of Emergency Management and Community Resilience and Minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada