Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon yesterday told MPs his unprecedented use of cabinet orders to force unions into binding arbitration was intended to “ensure industrial peace.” MacKinnon in testimony at the Commons human resources committee did not say if he would act to end a five-day strike by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.

“It was put there by the Parliament of Canada,” said MacKinnon. “It is there to ensure industrial peace. How can we not hear the manufacturers, the small and medium sized businesses?”