Only the drug-free need apply
Jorge Barrera
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Dec 18/00) - Hundreds of jobs are opening up in resource development in the Northwest Territories, but only the drug-free need apply, say industry representatives.
Mandatory drug tests are the industry standard. Unions and civil liberties groups argue that testing infringes on workers' rights, but key aboriginal organizations support the practise.
Safety is the biggest reason for drug testing, said Craig Massey, human resources manager of Canadian lands for Veritas, an oil and gas exploration company preparing to do seismic testing in the Beaufort Delta next January. Veritas is involved in a joint-venture with Uummarmuit Development Corporation. Up to 120 jobs could open up in the region.
"It's done (drug testing) for the worker's well-being to provide a safe workplace," said Massey.
In the NWT, corporate drug testing has revieced mixed reviews.
Union of Northern Workers president, Georgina Rolt-Kaiser argues that it infringes on worker's privacy.
"They can't go out and willy-nilly (test)," said Rolt-Kaiser, "they have to advise us, but at this point it's unacceptable."
Rolt-Kaiser dismisses the connection between accidents and drug use.
"To my knowledge there are not incidents of it as related to an accident," said Rolt-Kaiser.
But aboriginal groups in the delta are embracing drug testing policy. They see it as a way to force a choice: drop drug habbits and work or stay on the sidelines and go hungry.
Inuvialuit Development Corp. wants to impose a drug testing policy on contractors and sub-contractors working on oil patch lands.
Roger Connelly, chief operations officer for the IDC, said that the board and chief executive officer Nellie Cournoyea, emphatically support corporate drug testing.
"We'd like to see it unilaterally imposed on sub-contractors and contractors working on Inuvialuit oil patches," said Connelly.
Connelly said corporate drug testing first became a serious issue in talks with PetroCanada last year. Since then, the IDC and subsidiary Inuvialuit corporations have adopted a pro-corporate drug testing position.
The issue came up at a Tuktoyaktuk council meeting when a representative of Veritas met with councillors to discuss seismic exploration on Tuktoyaktuk lands.
Veritas representative Wayne Ross said it is company policy to drug test employees.
Tuktoyaktuk council approved of the policy and endorsed the company's zero tolerance policy on workers caught with drugs in their system.
"If you are found to be under the influence of any non-prescription drugs, you are going to town," Ross said.
Tuktoyaktuk mayor Ernest Pokiak supports the policy.
"If someone wants a job and wants it bad they have to make a choice," said Pokiak.
BHP also employs a pre-employment drug screening program for their Ekati diamond mine.
"It's industry standard," said Denise Burlingame, senior communicatios officer with BHP.
"It creates a much safer atmosphere."
But there are those in the non-renewable resource industry that say corporate drug testing is nothing more than a witch hunt for people who use substances that are socially unacceptable.
"I cannot see economic justification for drug testing," said an industry insider who wanted to remain anonymous.
"It's more feasible to have a wellness program that helps people lead a healthy lifestyle."
Veritas does not have an in-house wellness program, but the company does send workers with substance abuse problems for treatment at Alberta detox centres.
The NWT does not have any legislation that touches on corporate drug tests.
"It would fall under the Human Rights Act of Canada," said Judy Langford, spokesperson for the Departmen of Justice.
The NWT does have a Fair Practices Officer, but according to Langford its powers are limited.
The GNWT is drafting an NWT Human Rights Act which will set the standard on how far corporations can go with drug testing.
Drug testing is a contentious issue in southern Canada. Several cases have gone to court and corporations have lost more than they have won.
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association and the Ontario Human Rights Commission took Imperial oil to court last winter when an employee was demoted after confessing to past alcholism. A lower court ruled against the company, and the decision was upheld on appeal.
Alan Borovoy, general council with the Canadian Civil Liberties Association calls random drug testing "a gratuitous invasion of privacy."
He says drug testing has more to do with information about the employee than with impairment and job safety.
"A urine test will disclose an awful lot about lifestyle and health indicators, but it has no job relevance," said Borovoy.
Which is the reason Pokiak endorses it. He sees it as motiviation for people in his community to change their life-styles.
"There is a lot of (drug) problems in Tuktoyaktuk," said Pokiak.
"The hamlet supports drug testing because it will make people take control of their lives and get a job," he said.
