The president of BC Ferries is calling for mandatory drug and alcohol testing after the Transportation Safety Board revealed that several crew members of the ill-fated Queen of the North regularly used cannabis while on board.

An underwater view of the bridge of the Queen of the North, which sank in more than 400 metres of water after hitting the rocks of Gil Island.
(Transportation Safety Board)

The safety notice from the federal board stressed there is no evidence crew members on the bridge were impaired at the time the Queen of the North struck an island and sank off the coast of British Columbia in March 2006.

But board chair Wendy Tadros wrote that ferry crews whose performance is impaired by cannabis are a clear risk to the travelling public.

The safety board is asking BC Ferries to first determine whether crewmembers on other vessels continue to regularly smoke marijuana or whether it was isolated to the Queen of the North.

"We're confident that BC Ferries will determine the extent of the problem and effectively manage the risk so it will not lead to a serious accident," Tadros wrote in the report.

The safety board also wants BC Ferries to review its alcohol and drug policies immediately and says it will monitor the company's progress as part of the investigation into the Queen of the North's sinking.

Ferries boss backs mandatory testing

BC Ferries president David Hahn told CBC on Wednesday he wants the federal government to pass legislation allowing all ferry operators in Canada to conduct mandatory drug and alcohol testing on all employees in safety sensitive positions.

Hahn's comments appeared in a BC Ferries news release, in which he stated that while management can create zero-tolerance drug policies, he believes that mandatory testing is the best method to ensure compliance.

BC Ferries has had a drug and alcohol abuse policy in place since 1997 and a zero-tolerance policy for all crew members since 2005, Hahn said, adding that employees have been terminated as a direct result of drug use.

No drug and alcohol tests were done on any crewmembers immediately following the sinking of the Queen of the North, said Hahn.

The Queen of the North provided regular ferry service between Port Hardy and Prince Rupert, before it sank on the night of March 22, 2006.
(BC Ferries)

So far, reaction to the report has been cautious from the B.C. Ferry and Marine Workers' Union. 

Union president Jackie Miller would not say whether she would support drug testing, but she said the union will cooperate with the company to find out the extent of the drug use problem on BC Ferries.

"You're always going to have a percentage of those individuals that are participating in that type of behaviour," Miller told CBC News. 

"We are working with the company to identify how extensive the problem is and identify some solutions."

Premier has cautious response 

B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell responded cautiously to the suggestion of mandatory testing.

"I think that we have to look at what the situation is. Within our national framework we have a Charter of Rights and Freedoms that we have to pay attention to," Campbell said.

"I think that everyone deserves to know that people are in no way impaired in carrying out their operations," he said.

The Queen of the North sank after it hit Gil Island in the early hours of March 22, 2006. Two people are believed to have died in the sinking of the 125-metre ship while 99 passengers were saved.

A BC Ferries report released on March 26 blamed the sinking on human error.

The report singled out three crew members in charge of navigation and steering on the night of the sinking, saying they failed to make a required course change.

The final report on the sinking has not yet been released by the Transportation Safety Board.