Drug testing proposal splits group helping Liberals on workplace policies

OTTAWA – A key body tasked with helping the federal government decide whether and how to impose marijuana testing for workers finds itself at an impasse, ensuring no new federal rules on workplace impairment will be in place before pot becomes legal later this year.

The committee, comprising federally regulated employers, labour groups and federal officials, finds itself split over the issue of drug testing for jobs where impairment could pose a threat to public safety.

A number of committee members say that means the Liberal government likely won't have time to address a number of requests from employers, who want rules put in place that would to allow for such tests.

There are currently no federal labour rules about drug and alcohol testing outside the military, and successive governments from the late 1980s have stayed away from the issue.

The decision to introduce legislation to legalize cannabis, which the government hopes to have in place in July, has placed pressure on the government to establish national rules for workplace drug testing.

Committee members say the government hasn't agreed to let employers randomly test workers, but nor has it rejected the idea outright.