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B.C. Ferries can now ask employees to pee in a cup to prove they are sober
By Hempology | March 3, 2008
Victoria Times Colonist
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Cindy E. Harnett
B.C. Ferries implements new drug-testing policy
B.C. Ferries is implementing a new mandatory drug and alcohol testing policy in the wake of the sinking of the Queen of the North and a safety board warning that crew regularly smoked dope between shifts and off the ship.
“B.C. Ferries now has a clear policy that if we have another major incident there will be mandatory company drug and alcohol and medication testing,” said Mark Stefanson, B.C. Ferries spokesman. “It was a grey area when the Queen of the North incident happened.”
Until now, the ferry corporation had a drug and alcohol policy and a zero-tolerance policy for substance use and abuse for live-aboard vessels, and fired employees who contravened it. However, it didn’t have a clear policy on mandatory testing, Stefanson said.
The new five-page wellness and substance abuse policy was delivered with a letter to all employees from B.C. Ferries president David Hahn on Feb. 6.
The new policy includes three circumstances under which the company can ask employees to pee in a cup to prove they are sober. Those include reasonable cause, post-significant event, or random testing for employees returning to work after demonstrated abuse or dependency. Drug and alcohol testing is generally done with either blood or urine samples.
“It clearly indicates where there’s a [significant] incident or where we suspect there’s a drug or alcohol issue that’s potentially affecting safety or a serious issue we can require mandatory drug and alcohol tests,” Stefanson said.
B.C. Ferry and Marine Workers’ Union president Jackie Miller says the policy just puts into formal practice what has been the standard: “It’s currently what is being done at B.C. Ferries and has historically been done.”
As part of its investigation into the sinking – in which two people died – the Transportation Safety Board in October 2007 warned that some crew members “regularly smoked cannabis between shifts, both on board and off the vessel.”
There was no evidence Queen of the North bridge crew members – helmswoman Karen Bricker and fourth officer Karl Lilgert – were impaired when the ferry rammed into Gil Island en route from Prince Rupert to Port Hardy in March 2006.
However, the safety board warned B.C. Ferries to determine the extent of the problem of substance use and abuse and effectively manage its risk “so it will not lead to a serious accident.”
At the time of the sinking, B.C. Ferries president asked that the crew undergo drug testing, but investigators denied his request. Such testing is mandatory and random in the U.S. transportation industry but in Canada it remains ethically and legally unclear.
The RCMP would have tested if they believe there was cause, Miller said. “Or if they felt the results would have been supportable in a court of law – given there was a very substantial period of time between the sinking of the vessel and the RCMP to have access to any of the individuals on the ship,” she said. “The tests probably would have been rendered null and void in terms of evidence,” Miller said.
Hahn demanded the federal government legislate mandatory testing but Federal Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon said in an e-mail to the corporation that it already had the power to test: “The government urges B.C. Ferries to act swiftly and efficiently to address any concerns by the TSB.”
B.C. Ferries has now strengthened that policy but “we are still hopeful the Transportation Safety Board is going to include a recommendation that will encourage the federal government to give all ferry operators in Canada, and transportation companies, the ability to have mandatory drug and alcohol testing that won’t be subjected to challenges under human rights legislation,” Stefanson said.
In addition to human rights legislation, some provincial courts have overruled pre-employment drug policies. Meanwhile, opponents of drug testing say a positive test only shows that a drug has been used some time in the past but doesn’t indicate when.
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