Random alcohol, drug testing for pilots under consideration at summit

Transport Canada is developing a new policy to take action against pilots caught working under the influence after two high-profile incidents last year where pilots accused of being intoxicated were intercepted at airports, according to a briefing note obtained by CBC News.

Transport Canada 'is developing a policy ... for timely action against pilots caught working under the influence...'- Briefing note obtained by CBC News

Transport Canada is holding an aviation safetysummit this week, for the first time,which will focus onhelping pilots with mental health issues and substance abuse disorders.

Tuesday'sFit to Fly workshop in Gatineau, Que., is aimed at figuring out if tougher safety rules are needed and if pilots should face randomalcohol and drug testing.

In the first incident, Scottish authorities intercepted two Canadian-licensed Air Transat pilots on July 18, 2016, in Glasgow before a flight to Toronto and gave them breathalyzer and blood tests.

They were charged with exceeding the legal blood-alcohol limit in Scotland.

• Pilots charged with being impaired before Glasgow to Toronto flight

Six months later, on New Year's Eve,Sunwing pilot Miroslav Gronychwas so drunkwhen he stumbled onto his airplane in Calgary that his pin was upside down and he appeared to pass out in the captain's chair.

The foreign national from Slovakia, who was in Canada on a work visa, pleaded guilty to a charge of impaired while in control of an aircraft in March.

• 'Ashamed' Sunwing pilot pleads guilty to impaired charge

Transport Minister Marc Garneausent letters to all Canadian airlinessaying he was "very concerned"about that incident.

CBC News recently obtained a briefing noteprepared for Garneauabout the two incidents, which saidTransport Canada is considering changing its rules.Garneau'soffice said the minister wasn't available for an interviewuntil the workshopstarts on June 6.

Summit invited pilots, health experts

"[Transport Canada]is developing a policy for the minister's consideration for timely action against pilots caught working under the influence, while at the same time supporting the wellness programs that airlines have in place for those with alcohol or drug abuse issues," reads the document, dated Jan. 12, 2017, which was obtained under the Access to Information Act.

Pilots, unions and health experts from across the country and abroad are now descending on the National Capital Regionfor the two-day eventto figure outwhat else can be done to improve safety, "including whetherany regulatory changes should be considered," Transport Canada confirmed.

In Canada, it's against the law for pilots to fly within eight hours of having an alcoholic drink or being under the influence.

Transport Canada said it takes violations of those rules seriously. Itcan revokelicencesandissue fines of up to $5,000 for a pilot and up to $25,000 for a corporation, according to the briefing note.

Currently no mandatory testing

No regulator in Canada hasmandated random drug and alcohol testing yet, as privacy laws have made such a stepchallenging. A 2013 Supreme Court of Canada decision ruled that random testing of employees is only allowed if there's reason to believe a worker is impaired on dutyor if he or she was directly involved in a workplace accident.

• Workplace random alcohol tests rejected by top court

In May, the Toronto Transit Commission started testing up to eight workers a day, including bus and subway drivers a decision that was later upheld by a judge, despite attempts by their union to block the policy.

So far, fouremployees have tested positive, none of whom were operators.

Canadian regulator may start random testing for first time

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) could also soon pave the way for regulators to mandate random drug and alcohol testing.

The commission is proposing that a very small number of workers with high-risk jobs at nuclear plants betested.

We want to be proactive.-AndrBouchard, director with CNSC

Andr Bouchard, a director with CNSC, is attending Tuesday's workshop and said he would bepassing along what he'd learned during eight years of consultations with stakeholders, unions and the Canadian Human Rights Commission.

The proposed regulations will be voted on in August, and Bouchardsaid he believes the potential policy strikes a balance between safety and workers' rights.

"It's less than one per cent of the overall population that will be subjected to that measure," Bouchard said. "These are the people in thecontrol room of the reactor. They are also thepeopleresponsible for thephysicalsecurity of the premises."

"We want to be proactive. We do not want to wait for an event to happen," he added.

Bouchardalso said he wants the aviation industry to know that it's important to workers that theyaren'tpenalized if they testpositive.Instead, they should be given help and put into support programs, he said.

'If you prevent 1 accident you're ahead'

Some pilots think random alcohol and drug testing isn't a bad idea.

Jock Williams, a retired commercial pilot and former Transport Canada flight safety official, said the majority of pilots never break the rules, so it may not be necessary. But it wouldn't hurt either, he added.

"If you prevent one accident, you're ahead," Williams said.

Williams said he underwent similartesting between 2003 and 2005 when he worked for the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, until they stopped doing it over complaints about employees' rights.

A computer would spit out names and those pilots had to report to the nurses' station to give a blood and urine sample, he said.

"I think it probably created an atmosphere in which people did not brush with the rules because they knew they could be caught," Williams said. "Certainly the feeling was, if you were caught with a blood-alcohol reading or any other actionable drug, that you would be fired simple as that."

'We really haven't had a huge problem'

Nevertheless, random drug testing is a sensitive andcontroversial topicin theaviation community.

There are concerns over false positive tests, medical files being not handled securely, and pilots being treated as if they can't be trusted to follow the rules, according to Greg Holbrook, director of operations for the Canadian Federal Pilots Association.

Holbrook saidthe fact the Sunwingpilot last year was intercepted before taking off in Calgary shows the current system is working.

"We really haven't had a huge problem with this in Canada, because most Canadian aviators are well steeped in the understanding that impairment and operation of an aircraft just do not go together," he said.

Canada already has strong rules and programs in place to get pilots help with issues before it gets to the point where they abuse alcohol and drugs, Holbrook added. That includes peer-to-peer support programs and regular medical check-ups with specialized aviation doctors every six months.

But at the same time, Holbrook said he thinks it'sworthwhile that the workshop isreevaluatingthe current systemand how to improveit.