FERRIES BOSS WANTS FLEET DRUG TESTING

B.C. Ferries president David Hahn called for fleet-wide mandatory drug
and alcohol testing for all ferry employees this week after the
Transportation Safety Board raised concerns that crew members on the
Queen of the North, which sank after hitting Gil Island last year,
"regularly smoked cannabis between shifts, both on board and off the
vessel."

Hahn urged the safety board to recommend to the federal Minister of
Transport that all ferry operators in Canada be given powers to
conduct drug testing on employees in safety-sensitive positions,
adding such rules are in place in the U.S. transportation industry.

The B.C. Civil Liberties has opposed the call for drug testing, saying
it intrudes on privacy without giving any information about whether an
employee is actually impaired.

According to the notice of concern issued Wednesday by the
Transportation Safety Board, there is no evidence either the
quartermaster or fourth officer on the bridge the night the Queen of
the North sank was impaired.

"However there is strong evidence of regular use of cannabis by crews
on board the Queen of the North," wrote Wendy Tadros, chairwoman of
the safety board.

Pot smoking can impair memory, attention and can affect a person's
ability to react quickly to complex or unexpected situations, the
board continued in its memo. And while impairment is greatest during
the initial high, it can last up to 24 hours.

"Any impairment of employees who perform safety-critical tasks in the
transportation industry is a clear risk to safety -- whether due to
impairment while on duty, or during off-duty periods if required to
carry out emergency functions," wrote Tadros.

Hahn said a drug and alcohol policy has been in place at B.C. Ferries
for the past decade and according to that policy, crew members are
forbidden from consuming alcohol or drugs -- including in their
off-duty time -- until they leave the ship. He said any ferry workers
who are smoking pot on board are in clear violation of that policy.

But according to the Transportation Safety Board, "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."

The safety board told the ferry corporation it needs to find out if
the issue of pot-smoking ferry workers is isolated to the Queen of the
North (where crews are on board the vessel for up to two weeks at a
time) or is also a problem on other ferry routes.

Hahn reacted Wednesday by calling for the drug testing to protect the
travelling public.

But Murray Mollard, executive director of the B.C. Civil Liberties
Association, said drug testing wouldn't necessary accomplish that
goal. Unlike breathalyzer tests for blood alcohol content, a positive
urine test for drugs will only indicate that "sometime in the recent
past the individual has ingested a drug" said Mollard -- not whether
that drug is still in the person's system.

Drug tests also carry "significant privacy intrusions" warned Mollard.
"It's highly degrading," he said. "You actually have to watch someone
pee in a cup."

He added the tests can also reveal private information that employers
shouldn't have access to, such as whether an employee is pregnant and
other medical conditions. "

He added drug testing isn't commonplace in the transportation industry
in Canada. "Air Canada pilots are not tested for drugs."

Jackie Miller, president of the BC Ferry and Marine Workers Union, did
not return calls before deadline.