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B.C. Trying To Broker Drug Tests For Ferry Crews
By Hempology | November 2, 2007
Globe & Mail, Canada
Oct.24 2007
Justine Hunter
VICTORIA — Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon is trying to broker a deal this week between B.C. Ferries and its work force that could pave the way for drug and alcohol testing for ferry crew. Mr. Falcon met yesterday with Jackie Miller, president of the B.C. Ferry and Marine Workers’ Union, to address concerns raised last week by the Transportation Safety Board about drug use by ferry crew. He is expected to meet today with the company president, David Hahn. “My sense is the union very much wants to drive to a solution on this problem,” Mr. Falcon told reporters. “The hope for me is that I can find common ground between management and the union’s position, and try to forge consensus.”
In a warning issued last week, the TSB called on B.C. Ferries to review its drug policies after an investigation into the sinking of the Queen of the North found senior crew members failed to rein in regular marijuana use by workers.That finding has put B.C. Ferries’ entire work force under a shadow, Mr. Hahn said in a letter sent to all his employees yesterday.
“While the company may not agree with all aspects of TSB’s memorandum, we do take it very seriously,” he said in the letter.
“We will be reviewing our current drug and alcohol policy and making changes that are more connected with TSB’s concerns and the absolute imperative of public safety.”
Mr. Hahn said he needs legal changes to allow him to impose mandatory drug and alcohol testing on crew members in safety-sensitive positions.
B.C. Ferries is one of the largest passenger ferry services in North America, moving 22 million passengers a year. But unlike their U.S. counterparts, Canadian transportation providers don’t have the authority to impose random, mandatory testing on employees.Federal Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon said last week ferry companies already have the power to test workers for drug use.
But his own department admits such tests are on shaky legal ground. “Enforcing mandatory drug testing is extremely difficult due to a number of entrenched rights of Canadians,” states an Oct. 17 media briefing document produced by Transport Canada.Mr. Hahn wants Mr. Falcon to press Ottawa to change the law so that the company can determine whether its employees are complying with its “zero tolerance” drug policy.
Earlier this week, Mr. Hahn told the Globe and Mail he was frustrated that the RCMP refused to conduct intoxication tests on the crew in command of the Queen of the North on the night it sank.However, Mr. Falcon said he’s not yet convinced the law needs to be changed.”If they need federal tools, I’m prepared to go ask for it, but at the end of the day this is probably something they can solve in British Columbia.”The issue of drug use emerged from the TSB’s investigation into the sinking of the Queen of the North on March 22, 2006.
The passenger ferry struck Gil Island at full speed after bridge crew failed to make a routine but critical course correction. A series of investigations by the TSB, the RCMP and Transport Canada are still under way to determine how the ship went off course.B.C. Ferries has a zero-tolerance policy with respect to alcohol and drugs. For live-aboard vessels, such as the Queen of the North, crew members are not permitted to consume or possess alcohol or any other mood-altering substance which would render them unfit for duty.
But, the TSB found:
“There is some evidence to suggest that not all senior crew members aboard the Queen of the North consistently took sufficient action to ensure the company’s no-tolerance policy was strictly adhered to.”
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