What could the federal government do to end the rail labour dispute?

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hinted Thursday that his government will soon unveil a plan to help bring an end to the ongoing railway shutdown — but his options may be limited.

«We will have more to say shortly on what we are doing to make sure the right solution is found quickly for the economy,» he said during a stop in the Eastern Townships region of Quebec.

Canadian National Railway Co. (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. (CPKC) locked out 9,300 engineers, conductors and yard workers Thursday morning after the parties failed to agree on a new contract.

Contract talks between the union and the two companies usually take place a year apart, but in 2022 — after the federal government introduced new rules — CN requested a year-long extension to its existing deal.

This first-ever simultaneous shutdown of both rail networks has blocked the movement of roughly $1 billion in goods.

Mark Thompson, a former labour arbitrator and professor emeritus at the University of British Columbia, said the unprecedented nature of the work stoppage is putting heavy pressure on the government to act.

«No government of whatever persuasion is going to stand by and let a national [work stoppage] by both railroads go on for very long. The impact on the economy is simply too great,» he said.

Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code allows the government to refer a labour dispute to the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) for binding arbitration.

The railway companies and a number of other business advocacy organizations have been calling on Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to refer this dispute to arbitration. MacKinnon has declined those requests and has instead urged the parties to hammer it out at the negotiating table.

But Lisa Raitt, who