The provincial agency that operates GO Transit has adopted a policy that would prohibit workers from using marijuana, even when they’re not on the job.

According to a memo sent to Metrolinx employees Friday and obtained by the Star, the agency has updated its “fitness for duty” policy to include a blanket ban on workers, who are in “safety sensitive” positions, consuming cannabis.

Recreational use of the drug has been legal across Canada since October 17, 2018.

In the memo, Metrolinx president and chief executive officer Phil Verster states that “it is my expectation” that as of February 1, “(a)ll employees who work in a safety sensitive position know that they are prohibited from using recreational cannabis and/or cannabis products whether they are on or off duty.”

The fitness-for-duty policy was first introduced last year and spells out Metrolinx’s requirements around issues such as drug and alcohol use and fatigue. Any violation can result in “discipline up to and including termination of employment,” the policy states.

It’s not clear how many Metrolinx employees will be prohibited from using pot under the new rules. Metrolinx has about 3,700 employees and hundreds of contractors, including Bombardier employees who operate GO trains, but not all of them are in safety sensitive positions.

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The agency provided a list Friday of 137 positions it considers safety sensitive and to which the ban would apply. They include supervisors, bus drivers, maintenance workers, fare inspectors, and some employees in the corporate records and information management department. The agency’s chief executive officer isn’t listed.

Metrolinx spokesperson Amanda Ferguson said the list isn’t exhaustive and more positions could be added at any time.

A spokesperson for Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1587, the union representing GO bus drivers, declined to comment Friday.

But when told about the new policy by a reporter Friday, John Di Nino, the national president the Amalgamated Transit Union, immediately vowed to challenge it.

“This is infringement on an individual’s human rights,” he said.

Di Nino said the union has no tolerance for workers being impaired on the job, but “it is hugely problematic and concerning when they are trying to control what we do on our personal time off property.”

Justin W. Anisman, an associate at Toronto’s Brauti Thorning LLP and an expert in employment law, questioned whether Metrolinx’s policy would stand up to legal scrutiny.

“Employers cannot interfere with their employees’ rights to engage in recreational activities outside the workplace,” he said.

“In the same way you can’t ban people from drinking alcohol outside the workplace, you can’t ban them from smoking cannabis.”

Nadia Halum Arauz, an associate at the MacLeod Law Firm, which specializes in labour law, said it’s reasonable for an agency whose operations affect public safety to have strong drug and alcohol policies. But she described the ban on using pot at home as “definitely an overreach.”

“There are probably better ways of balancing your obligations as an employer, your obligations as a service provider, vis-a-vis respecting your employees’ rights to do whatever they want on their own time,” she said.

Asked whether the agency believes its new rules would withstand a legal challenge Ferguson, the Metrolinx spokesperson, said its lawyers have “carefully reviewed” the policy.

“Metrolinx is committed to preserving the health and safety of all employees, the communities we serve, and members of the public who may use Metrolinx services or otherwise be affected by our services,” Verster said in a statement. “To this end, Metrolinx is committed to ensuring that all employees and contractors are fit for duty.”

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Metrolinx’s introduction of the cannabis prohibition comes almost two years after the TTC introduced a controversial policy to subject its employees in safety-sensitive positions to random drug and alcohol testing.

However, TTC management has stressed it’s only concerned about impairment at work, and hasn’t moved to stop drug or alcohol use when transit workers are off the clock.

Metrolinx also performs drug and alcohol tests, but only when the agency says there is reasonable cause to believe an employee is impaired on the job, or after a workplace incident that threatened safety.

Ben Spurr is a Toronto-based reporter covering transportation. Reach him by email at bspurr@thestar.ca or follow him on Twitter: @BenSpurr

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