Labour groups call on Carney to adopt a ‘true Team Canada approach’ to trade war

Unifor president Lana Payne attends a Canada-U.S. relations meeting at the Ontario Investment and Trade Centre in Toronto on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

OTTAWA — Canadian labour leaders say Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal government is not being transparent enough with them on how trade talks are advancing with U.S. President Donald Trump’s White House.

The heads of private and public labour groups are huddling in Ottawa in advance of this year’s review of Canada’s free trade deal with the United States and Mexico.

Union leaders say they want Ottawa to come up with a “worker-first” economic strategy in response to Trump’s protracted trade war with Canada, which has pummeled blue-collar industries such as forestry, steel and the auto sector.

Bea Bruske, president of the Canadian Labour Congress, says workers need to be at the decision-making table with government and that Ottawa’s communications with them should not be a “box-checking exercise” after private discussions take place.

Unifor national director Lana Payne says workers must be at the centre of the government’s efforts for a “true Team Canada approach” to fighting the trade war.

Payne also says it was a good thing that Canada did not sign a “bad trade deal” last year with Trump, as other countries did while struggling under the pressure of heavy tariffs.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 4, 2026.

Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press