Drug testing proposal splits group helping Liberals

A key body tasked with helping the federal government decide whether and how to impose marijuana testing for workers finds itself at an impasse, ensuring no new federal rules on workplace impairment will be in place before pot becomes legal later this year.

The committee, comprising federally regulated employers, labour groups and federal officials, finds itself split over the issue of drug testing for jobs where impairment could pose a threat to public safety.

A number of committee members say that means the Liberal government likely won’t have time to address a number of requests from employers, who want rules put in place for “safety-sensitive’’ jobs, such as transit drivers, that would allow employers to legally conduct random drug tests.

There are currently no federal labour rules about drug and alcohol testing outside the military, but it is permissible in some circumstances when the union approves the policy and an employer can show evidence of a general substance abuse problem that poses a risk.

Successive governments from the late 1980s have stayed away from the issue, with current rules a result of rulings from labour arbitrators, human rights tribunals and the courts.

The decision to introduce legislation to legalize cannabis, which the government hopes to have in place this summer, has placed pressure on the government to establish national rules for workplace drug testing.

“It is the government of Canada that has chosen to legalize marijuana — we have no moral judgment one way or the other on that — but we do think that incumbent upon the government is to follow that bill with a parallel bill that gets to the issue of workplace safety,’’ said Derrick Hynes, executive director of a group representing federally regulated workers, known by the acronym FETCO.

Hassan Yussuff, head of the Canadian Labour Congress, said legalization wouldn’t change anything in regards to how workplaces deal with impaired employees: “The law is very clear that you can’t come to work in an impaired fashion to work and if your employer should find you (impaired), they, of course, can take whatever steps are necessary.’’