You held a private meeting recently with CEOs to talk about their wish list for the Canadian economy. So what did you talk about? I don’t know exactly but I can guess. Last year the same crowd urged you to reduce the pay of Canadian workers, to weaken unions by enacting U.S.-style right-to-work legislation, and to raise the retirement age. Some of these measures were contained in your most recent budget and others are likely on the drawing board.

The Canadian Labour Congress has just released a research study called “The Union Advantage in Canadian Communities.” It shows that on average unionized workers in Canada earn $5.11 an hour more than do non-union workers. That extra money in the pockets of individual workers means the union advantage is worth a cumulative $793 million per week that is added to our economy. This is good news for workers, their communities and for small business, despite what your friendly CEOs would appear to believe. I find it odd that some people and organizations who claim to speak for small business would support right-to-work proposals that would weaken unions.

It’s obvious that you are getting bad economic advice. I would ask that you commit to inviting representatives of labour and community-based organizations to any future meetings about the direction of the Canadian economy. I await your reply.