Pubdate: Fri, 19 Oct 2007 Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC) Copyright: 2007 The Vancouver Sun Contact: http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477 Author: Fiona Anderson Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada) LAW ALLOWS MANDATORY DRUG TESTS, MINISTER SAYS Lawrence Cannon Says BC Ferries Should Start Testing Immediately VICTORIA -- BC Ferries has the power to do employee drug testing, federal Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon says. And, he adds, he "wants results now." In an e-mail to reporters, Cannon said he would write to all ferry operators to remind them of their powers related to regular drug testing of employees. He also urged BC Ferries to review the effectiveness of their alcohol and drug policies. "Canada's government has a clear 'tough on drugs' agenda and wants results now regarding the use of cannabis by employees on BC Ferries' northern fleet," Cannon wrote. The Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday it found several crew members of the Queen of the North regularly smoked cannabis between shifts, both on board and off the vessel. The crew lived on board while on duty or on call. The ferry sank March 22, 2006, when the crew failed to make a key change of course and crashed the vessel into Gil Island on B.C.'s northwestern coast. Two people are still missing and presumed drowned. The TSB said Wednesday it had no evidence the crew on the bridge at the time of the sinking was impaired. In response to the report, BC Ferries president and CEO David Hahn called on Cannon to give ferry operators the power to conduct mandatory drug and alcohol testing on all employees in safety sensitive positions. But BC Ferries already has that power under the Canadian human rights commission policy on alcohol and drug testing, Transport Canada spokesperson Fiona MacLeod said in an interview. "It's the prerogative of a company if they feel safety is at risk to implement a drug testing program," MacLeod said. "And I don't think [BC Ferries] realizes that." But Hahn said BC Ferries is already doing everything it can under current legislation. And while it plans to do even more to educate employees and harden current policies, "we're still looking ... for the extra support that can be out there and can come from the federal government," Hahn said in an interview. And that support is legislation that enables BC Ferries to test for drug use in appropriate circumstances, such as safety sensitive jobs, or reasonable cause, Hahn said. "Nobody's looking to go on a witch hunt. ... All we're looking for is every possible tool to maximize safety," he said. But even the policy relied upon by Transport Canada appears only to allow random alcohol, and not drug, testing of employees. "Random drug testing is prohibited because, given its technical limitations, drug testing can only detect the presence of drugs and not if or when an employee may have been impaired by drug use," the policy says. Drug testing may be allowed when there are reasonable grounds to believe there is an underlying problem of abuse or where an accident has occurred due to impairment. Murray Mollard, executive director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, agrees drug testing doesn't measure impairment. It's not like a breathalyser that measures blood-alcohol levels for which there is a standard that indicates impairment, Mollard said. "What it will tell you is that some time in the recent past this person had ingested a particular drug," Mollard said. And impairment can occur for a number of reasons, like lack of sleep, mental health, as well as alcohol or drug use, he said. Mollard suggests going to "the old standard -- human observation. I don't think there's ever a replacement for that," he said. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom