The North Bay & District Chamber of Commerce (NBDCC) is one of dozens of Canadian business groups expressing concern about the labour dispute at Canada’s West Coast ports.
They joined forces to pen a letter to the Prime Minister last week calling on the Federal Government to reconvene Parliament and pass back-to-work legislation.
“The shutdown of our ports will fuel inflation, increase costs for businesses and consumers and damage the Canadian economy,” states the letter. “It will severely reduce the ability of our exporting industries to move their products to market, making it much more difficult to secure the global contracts that drive investment and employ Canadians.”
The business groups say about 25 percent of their total traded goods flow through the ports in Western Canada.
Federal Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan has asked mediators to submit a possible contract to him Wednesday.
The two sides will then have another 24 hours to decide whether to accept or reject the proposal.
If one side rejects the deal, it could set the stage for back-to-work legislation.
**With files from Norman Jack
