Delta communities accept job screening measure
Dawn Ostrem
Northern News Services
Inuvik (Apr 30/01) - Labourers in the Mackenzie delta would rather be forced to urinate in a cup than be out of a job.
"It's been a long time since we fielded a complaint about a drug test," said Donna Spurell, director of human resources, for the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation.
The issue of mandatory drug testing sparked debate earlier this year, but Spurell believes it has been accepted as a key to employment opportunities that are cascading across the delta.
Early opposition came from people who thought "they had to have a needle to begin with" instead of a simple urine sample, she said.
"But the people who are working now rarely complain about it. It is not something that is new to the industry."
Drug testing "is a standing policy," said Veritas regional manager Wayne Ross.
The Calgary-based seismic company manager said when it comes to recruitment, drug testing can be done ahead of time for individuals who want to ensure they pass if hired.
But random tests are also done on the work site and if someone is caught with alcohol, marijuana or harder drugs in their system, employment is terminated.
"We are not here to be the judges of people's social situations. The only reason we do drug tests is for safety," Ross added.
"There is conjecture that more Inuvialuit have drug problems than white people so that's our way of weeding them out but that is just conjecture," he said.
"You have just as many people from Calgary who would not pass drug tests as you would locally."
Ross estimated that over half of Veritas's workers are local Inuvialuit who held 43 positions at the beginning of April.
A decrease in the number of persons seeking income assistance supports the idea that oil and gas exploration has brightened the employment picture.
Greg Hill, the regional manager for income support, said "it appears to us it is down quite a bit from two months ago."
"Last month was the first month we really started to notice ... and what we think is happening is that there is more and more people working."
