TURNS OUT B.C. FERRIES IS RUNNING A TIGHT SHIP AFTER ALL

As I was driving absent-mindedly down the up-ramp to the Trans-Canada
Highway yesterday morning, causing cars to swerve to the verge and
blow their horns, it occurred to me that that's what it must be like
to be stoned, or whatever it's called, on pot.

I want to assure those who will be concerned that there was no
accident. I exchanged what, on my part anyway, were friendly waves
with oncoming drivers.

When I got home I saw in the newspaper that some ferry workers on the
Queen of the North used to smoke pot until that day in March last year
when it sank. David Hahn, the admiral of the B.C. Ferries fleet, says
he can't order drug tests on people who run the ships; Lawrence
Cannon, the federal transport minister, says he can, and should.

The Transportation Safety Board, whose investigators found that more
than the Queen of the North's funnels smoked, are unable to say
whether those responsible for running it up onto Gil Island were high
at the time.

I haven't been able to keep straight from newspaper reports who, if
anyone, was on the bridge when the unfortunate Queen grounded and
sank. It never occurred to me that whoever was there might have
mistaken the smoke in the wheelhouse for fog outside, or figured, as I
did with those oncoming cars, that the island simply would get out of
the way.

I don't think this is acceptable. It might get people wondering if the
faculties of the crews running the remaining boats might be impaired
- -- by pot or booze or anything else, since it sounds as if without a
specific legislative requirement, the ferry management might not be
prepared to do much about it.

This impression is reinforced by a former captain, who sailed the
Queen of the North route for seven years, who's reported to have said
that soft drug and alcohol abuse aboard northern ferries extends from
management to deckhands.

Now I don't expect ferry crews to be chained to their oars without
food or water for weeks while Hahn or his overseers bang a big drum
above them. And I know the ferry boss wants to run a friendly service
where everyone among passengers and crew is happy.

But there's running a tight ship, and running a tight ship. Whether
people drink alcohol or take drugs may be a personal choice, but it
becomes a bit more than that when control over an 18,700-tonne
behemoth churning through channels at 19.5 knots is involved.

It's reported that random drug and alcohol testing of crews is
mandatory in the U.S. transportation industry. Hahn believes he hasn't
the authority to force crew members in safety-sensitive positions to
submit to random tests.

He says he's prepared to get as tough as he can while respecting the
"human rights" of crew members, but that he hasn't found the "right
balance" so far.

It's odd to hear an admiral admit he hasn't found his sea legs yet,
that someone who's been in command so long is still so much at sea
when it comes to the safety of his fleet.

I know what a lot of the problem is: All this has been under
discussion for four months with representatives of the B.C. Ferry and
Marine Workers' Union, whose president vows to fight any attempt to
impose mandatory, random drug testing of members.

This is the same union, remember, that has been cautioning members who
were aboard the Queen of the North that fateful night not to say
anything to investigators about what they saw or didn't see because
they might have been otherwise occupied.

It's astonishing that 18 months after beginning its investigation into
the sinking, the RCMP major crimes unit is announcing, as "a
breakthrough," that key members of the crew actually may be ready to
answer questions. What a dismal, pathetic police performance.

There's little indication of what union and management are
contemplating as part of the new alcohol and drug policy, though we're
assured it will include assistance, rehabilitation, education and
awareness programs. What about prohibition?

For all I know, we'll end up with safe-injection sites on Deck C and
that recorded voice on departure inviting passengers to enjoy the amenities.

It's true that drug testing can only indicate whether drugs have been
ingested over a period of hours or weeks and not, like breathalyzers
for booze, indicate a degree of impairment. But why would we allow
anyone with traces of drugs in their blood or urine to drive a ship at
all?

And why does all this depend on a "policy" of the Canadian Human
Rights Commission instead of a law that could be enforced?

Even more, why do ferry employees see crew members smoking pot on the
job and do nothing to stop it? That's solidarity forever, all right --
right between the eyes.