In my opinion, sir, no. The companion bill seems to assume that it's only the public that might be harmed or killed by somebody under the influence of cannabis. It ignores every working Canadian who goes to work every day, especially in and around safety sensitive positions.
Since there is no threshold measurement for cannabis impairment yet, and the technology may be evolving, it's difficult to always persuade people that you can do a random test in the workplace that's meaningful, but the TTC has done it. The courts have upheld the random TTC alcohol and drug testing program, but they're in litigation, and their litigation may go for years. If it goes all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, it may take another decade.
Workplace stakeholders need a framework, and if it's a federal bill that legalizes recreational cannabis, it only makes sense that, even though federal jurisdiction doesn't extend over all workplaces, the federal government should also provide leadership for the serious safety risks. I could bore you with example after example. I've got three cases currently that I'm retained on in the courts where somebody died because they were impaired. In all cases it's the employer who gets blamed.
There needs to be a more rigorous review, and I would suggest these amendments to the Canada Labour Code specifically for workplace safety. The bill on the traffic side deals with public safety to some extent and a little bit indirectly for transportation workers' workplace safety, but you don't want to be walking near a construction site where there's a tower crane where a worker is not screened or worries about cheating the system by being stoned at work and dropping a concrete bucket on somebody's head.
It's a terrible thought, and I deal with it more than I'd like to in my practice, and to just say that under the general duty clause for employers, you have to find a way to do it, when the courts are not generally permitting random testing, I think misses the point that there is already increased use and acceptance, especially in the construction industry in Ontario. It will get more prevalent as you have legality and as you have increased social acceptance. I don't think current legislation addresses the concerns that I have raised.