Conservatives maintain silence as strife continues between union, railways

As railworkers push back on the Liberal government's effort to end a labour dispute that brought freight rail service to a halt, the federal Conservatives remain silent on the strife that poses a major threat to Canada's economy.

Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon asked the Canadian Industrial Relations Board on Thursday to impose binding arbitration after Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. locked out 9,300 employees.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh slammed the government's decision, calling it proof the Liberals «will always cave to corporate greed, and Canadians will always pay for it.»

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has not weighed in since the lockout began on Thursday and his office has not yet responded to a request for comment.

Even the more vocal members of the Conservative caucus have held off on commenting, despite their usual eagerness to weigh in on major news stories with social media posts.

Poilievre has made a greater effort as leader to court support from private sector unions and blue collar workers, while publicly declaring that he won't spend political capital to further the interests of business groups.

Conservatives also voted in favour of legislation earlier this year that banned replacement workers at federally regulated
workplaces.

«I wish I could say I was surprised,» Canadian Chamber of Commerce president Perrin Beatty said about the Conservatives' silence on the rail work stoppage.

«I think what we'll find for the next 15 months, between now and the next election, is that everything is politics, and the public interest gets set to one side as the parties jockey for political advantage.»

Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, said all