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With a positive test on his record, Harris is fair game. But after serving the league-mandated suspension, what is fair treatment of Harris going forward?

There isn’t a single word in the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the league and the players that negates a player’s eligibility for end-of-season awards in the case of a suspension for PEDs.

The CFLPA and CFL would have to agree on language before any such inclusion could take place. CFLPA executive director Brian Ramsay said he looks forward to having conversations on the issue of eligibility with both the FRC and CFL, but wouldn’t offer an opinion on the matter prior to those talks.

There should, at the very least, be language that deals with this issue in the FRC’s directive to its voting members and in a set of player eligibility requirements that would be made public.

The FRC will be formally addressing this issue long before next year’s voting. But for now, Harris is going to be a problem or at least an issue for the seasoned media professionals who form the Winnipeg chapter of the FRC. They will vote the way they feel about Harris, and in the absence of any formal direction from the league, the PA or the FRC leadership, they will be well within their rights to do so.

commanding presence

Tom Higgins has worked behind the scenes as an officiating consultant for the CFL this season.

The former head coach and general manager, who was a member of CFL franchises in Montreal, Edmonton and Calgary, was last employed by the league head office as director of officiating from 2008 to 2013.