Bethany Hastie – The Conversation

Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu directed the Canada Industrial Relations Board to order Air Canada and the union representing its flight attendants to resume operations. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Kyle Duggan

September 4, 2025

The federal government’s repeated use of back‑to‑work powers undermines Canadian workers’ right to strike

Bethany Hastie, University of British Columbia and Keegan Nicol, University of British Columbia

The federal government’s reliance on Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code to end strikes undermines collective bargaining and may violate workers’ constitutional right to strike.

A temporary foreign worker from Mexico plants strawberries on a farm in Mirabel, Que., on May 6, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

May 12, 2020

The coronavirus reveals the necessity of Canada’s migrant workers

Bethany Hastie, University of British Columbia

Now that the pandemic has made migrant workers visible in Canada, as well as the true value of the work they do, it’s time to dramatically improve their working conditions.

Students walk past a cross on campus at Trinity Western University in Langley, B.C., in February 2017. The school was at the centre of a court battle pitting equality rights against freedom of religion. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

April 3, 2019

The legal conflict between equality rights and freedom of religion

Bethany Hastie, University of British Columbia and Margot Young, University of British Columbia

We must acknowledge that shifting historically vulnerable groups away from the margins means making room in spaces where these groups have not traditionally been welcomed.

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