ONTARIO PARES DOWN DRUG-TESTING PROPOSAL

TORONTO -- The Ontario government has scaled back its once-ambitious
plans to test welfare recipients for drug use because of legal
problems, Social Services Minister John Baird said yesterday.

But the government remains determined to bring in a program that will
identify welfare recipients who are addicted to drugs, then encourage
them to enter treatment programs, he said in an interview.

The antidrug programs could affect between 15,000 and 45,000 of the
450,000 people who are receiving welfare in the province, Mr. Baird
said. The estimates of the rate of addiction range from 3 per cent to
10 per cent.

"By nature it's pretty difficult [to determine] because people don't
volunteer their participation," he noted.

As part of its antidrug program, the government plans to
substantially expand drug-treatment facilities in the province, he
said.

Welfare recipients who use drugs will not risk losing their benefits
as long as they seriously attempt to break their habit by
participating in a rehabilitation program, Mr. Baird said.

"But the attempt has got to be meaningful," he warned.

The reduction in the government's ambitions for the drug testing
comes in the face of objections by those involved in helping addicts
and by Human Rights Commissioner Keith Norton.

In the 1999 election campaign and in subsequent news conferences, Mr.
Baird and Premier Mike Harris warned that people who refuse to enter
rehab programs or who refuse to be tested for drug abuse would not be
eligible for welfare benefits.

But, after six weeks of informal consultations and an assessment of
the legal and medical scope of the problem, Mr. Baird has moderated
his approach to the issue.

"This problem didn't develop overnight and we won't be able to tackle
it overnight," he said. "We want to look at various implementation
strategies. . . . We'll take the time to get it right."

As part of his consultations, Mr. Baird has met with experts on human
rights, with people who work in treatment programs for addicts, and
with three welfare recipients who were enrolled in treatment programs.

"It was very interesting. I got some real insights," he said.

The precise design of the antidrug program is still evolving and Mr.
Baird hopes to reveal details this spring.

But the program is no longer seen as forcing those on drugs to quit
the habit or lose their benefits.

Instead, Mr. Baird said, he is taking the approach that the
government will help participants in the Ontario Works program who
cannot keep a job in which they have been placed or meet their
training commitments because of an addiction.

"If you can't get a job because of an addiction to drugs, we want to
help," he said.

As long as people are taking treatment, they will not risk losing
their welfare benefits, Mr. Baird said. A major hurdle for the
government has been court rulings that human-rights laws prevent
discrimination against those suffering from a disability. And the
courts have determined a drug addiction should be considered a
disability.