Family-Supporting
Jobs For All
For far too long, working Canadians across Mission—Matsqui have been denied the wages, benefits, decency, and dignity we've earned. Over the last forty years, the average cost of food and housing have both nearly tripled, while average wages rose by less than forty per cent. Government after government has watched corporations hollow out Canada's middle class while the revolving door of MPs turned corporate lobbyists kept the cheques coming.
Through card-check, sectoral bargaining, and worker ownership, we can rebuild the labour movement, restore the middle class, and ensure every working Canadian in Mission—Matsqui has the stability, security, decency, and dignity we've earned and deserve. Working Canadians create the wealth of this country: it's time we kept it.
Repeal Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code
The federal government has repeatedly used Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code to legislate striking workers back to work, stripping them of their most fundamental right at the exact moment they need it most, at the whim of corporations. New Democrats are fighting to repeal Section 107, restoring every working Canadian's constitutional right to strike, and ending Ottawa's practice of intervening on behalf of corporations against the workers they exploit. No politician should have the power to strip workers of the right to withhold their labour.
Single Step Union Certification
If a simple majority of workers sign a union card, that should be enough to certify a union. Card-check certification removes the lengthy, employer-influenced certification votes that give bosses time to intimidate and pressure workers out of organizing. New Democrats are fighting for single-step union certification as the national standard, making it easier for workers in every sector, from the farms of the Fraser Valley to the warehouses of Mission, to organize, have their voices heard, and demand the wages and conditions they deserve.
Sectoral Bargaining for Every Canadian
Across Canada today, more than 15 million workers have no union and no collective voice. That means no guaranteed floor of wages, no protection from arbitrary dismissal, no say in the conditions they work under. It means precarious contracts, unpredictable hours, and no path to the stability and security that allow you to plan a life. Sectoral bargaining changes that, by extending collective bargaining agreements across entire industries, every worker in a sector benefits from the same floor of wages, benefits, and protections, whether they're union members or not. New Democrats are fighting for a National Sectoral Bargaining Framework so that unions in industries with 10 per cent or greater union density can request the Minister of Labour extend their collective agreement across the entire sector. This is how we uplift precarious workers, disproportionately young folks, in food processing, service, and agricultural work across our riding, and ensure all working people have the opportunity to provide for themselves and their families.
Worker Representation in Corporate Boardrooms
Workers whose labour built a corporation deserve a direct say in how it's run. Right now, corporate boards answer exclusively to shareholders, accountable only to the endless pursuit of profit, often at the direct expense of workers' wages, conditions, and job security. Mission—Matsqui's New Democrats are demanding codetermination: requiring all corporations with 100 or more employees to allocate 30 per cent of board seats to worker-elected representatives, and all corporations with 500 or more employees to allocate 50 per cent of board seats, as well as 50 per cent of seats on all health and benefit trusts, to workers.
A Gig Workers' Bill of Rights
The right to form a union, strike, collectively bargain, and work in safe and dignified conditions, should not depend on which province you live in or which party is in power. To ensure that no politician has the right to take away your right to demand for yourself what you've earned, Mission–Matsqui's New Democrats will fight to enshrine these fundamental rights in the constitution. We'll fight to enshrine your right to organize, certify by majority card-check, engage in collective bargaining and strike action, receive equal pay for equal work, and work in safe and dignified conditions.
Employment Insurance That Works
Employment Insurance is supposed to be there when you need it most, but today, only one in three unemployed Canadians can actually access the EI they've been paying into. Workers are deemed ineligible because of their immigration status, because they didn't work enough hours, or because the rules were written for a full-time permanent workforce that no longer describes how most people in our riding actually work. For part-time workers, gig workers, seasonal agricultural workers, and the self-employed, workers who are disproportionately young, disproportionately women, and disproportionately found in the farms, food processing facilities, and service jobs of the Fraser Valley, EI is a system they pay into but can rarely access. New Democrats are fighting to fix that, starting with a uniform entrance threshold of 360 hours to access EI for all workers regardless of location, immediately extending coverage to hundreds of thousands of Canadians currently locked out of the system they've been paying into. New Democrats are also pushing to increase EI benefits to 75 per cent of previous earnings with a minimum benefit of $600 per week, so that losing a job doesn't mean losing your ability to pay rent or put food on the table. New Democrats are calling for the elimination of the 50-week limit on combined parental and regular benefits, a limit that disproportionately harms women facing layoffs before or after parental leave, and for the extension of the reference and benefit period to 104 weeks. Finally, New Democrats are demanding the restoration of the EI Board of Appeals with worker representatives, so that workers whose claims are wrongly denied have a real and accessible way to fight back. If you pay into EI, you deserve to be able to use it.
Workers' Right of First Refusal
When a business closes, sells, or goes insolvent, the workers whose labour built it deserve the first chance to own it for themselves, to keep it running, keep the jobs in the community, and keep the wealth in the hands of those who created it. Mission—Matsqui's New Democrats are calling for a statutory Workers' Right of First Refusal, requiring corporations to provide at least 90 days notice before closure, sale of major assets, or insolvency proceedings, and giving workers the right to submit a cooperative bid that must be accepted if it meets 75 per cent of the highest competing offer. No more watching corporations shut down viable businesses and walk away while working people lose everything.
A National Worker Ownership Fund
To ensure every working Canadian can exercise their right of first refusal and have real ownership over their lives, New Democrats are fighting for a National Worker Ownership Fund, to provide the low-interest financing workers need to compete with corporations when their workplace comes up for sale. This is how we keep good, family-supporting jobs from being offshored or shut down, by putting the power and the ownership directly in workers' hands, keeping wealth circulating in our communities rather than being extracted by distant shareholders.
Enshrine Workers' Rights in the Constitution
The right to form a union, bargain collectively, strike, and work in safe and dignified conditions should not depend on which province you live in, which government is in power, or which corporation employs you. Mission—Matsqui's New Democrats believe these are not privileges to be granted or revoked by politicians, they are fundamental rights that belong to every working person. That's why Mission—Matsqui's New Democrats are committed to fighting for a constitutional amendment enshrining the right to organize, certify by majority card-check, engage in collective bargaining and strike action, receive equal pay for equal work, and work in safe and dignified conditions, making these rights permanent, uniform, and beyond the reach of any future government to take away. When our rights are enshrined in the Constitution, no Tory, red or blue, can take them from us.