SOLBERG WANTS DRUG, ALCOHOL TESTING DECISION OVERTURNED

Medicine Hat MP Monte Solberg wants businesses to have the right to test
potential employees for drug and alcohol use.

Solberg introduced a private members' bill in the House of Commons on
Thursday to eliminate Canadian Human Rights Act's decision that
pre-employment testing for drug and alcohol use is discriminatory.

"What firms were doing at one point was pre-testing people because of
course there's a tremendous amount at stake. If you hire someone who has a
history of drug or alcohol abuse, then it's possible they will get behind
the wheel impaired and who knows what -- cause tremendous damage and cause
deaths of innocent people and also put companies in position where they
could be liable," Solberg said Thursday afternoon from Ottawa.

"The ability of companies to test has been compromised by the Canadian
Human Rights ruling that suggests that previous drug and alcohol abuse
should not be prohibitive grounds for discrimination when it comes to
hiring and I thought that was crazy. I thought that these companies should
have the right to determine this before they hire someone," he said.

Solberg couldn't say specifically when the ruling changed or how long
companies had been allowed to pre-test before it was deemed a violation of
human rights.

A spokesperson at the Canadian Human Rights Commission couldn't be reached
for comment late Thursday, but information obtained from its Web site said
the change came about based on decisions made by the Supreme Court of
Canada and the Ontario Court of Appeal.

"The Canadian Human Rights Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of
disability and perceived disability. Disability includes those with a
previous or existing dependence on alcohol or a drug," says the CHRC's
executive summary.

Types of testing not acceptable, according to the CHRC, are pre-employment
drug and alcohol testing, random drug testing and random alcohol testing of
employees in non-safety-sensitive positions.

Solberg said the change in ruling is of particular concern for the
transportation industry.

"When we have people who are getting behind the wheel of a large truck and
rolling down the highway, I think employers would like to know ahead of
time that these people are not in the grip of alcohol or drugs," he said.

Solberg said the ruling could have long-term implications for Canadian
drivers who haul goods into the United States.

"U.S. has a very rigorous pre-employment testing for drivers and there is a
concern that at some point down the road Canadian drivers won't be accepted
on the roads in the United States because of the difference in how people
are tested before they were hired," he said.