Canadian Lawyer

42 J U L Y 2 0 1 7 w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m s Canada prepares to become the first G7 country to legalize the consumption and sale of recreational marijuana, law- yers are preparing for the impact of the legalization on labour and employ- ment law from a work- place safety perspective. In April, when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal government announced its intention to make good on its campaign promise to legalize cannabis sales by July 2018, the Quebec bar was already getting ready to thrash out the various issues raised by legaliz- ing cannabis in a special working group. Charles Wagner, a member of Lan- glois lawyers LLP's employment and labour law group in Montreal and a certified human resources professional, is one of that group, which aims to pro- vide the Quebec bar with a position on the impending new legislation. "There is no specific provision in the bill that touches labour and employ- ment," says Wagner. However, he adds, "the current bill will most likely have an indirect impact on employers and employees." First and foremost, employers must take the necessary measures to protect the health, physical safety and wellbeing of its workers, he says, and employees have the same obligations. The legaliza- tion of recreational cannabis will, there- fore, have an impact on the workplace, Wagner predicts, because, like alcohol, cannabis affects physical behaviour and so may be detrimental to the health and safety of the employee. Concern over the proposed new leg- islation has also been brewing in the oil patch, where workers are often operat- ing heavy machinery. "There absolutely is" concern among employers about recreational cannabis legalization, says Loretta Bouwmeester, a partner in the employment, labour and occupational health and safety practice of Mathews Dinsdale & Clark LLP in Calgary. "We've had quite a few employers reach out," she says. "They're looking at their fitness-for-work policies and recognizing that there will be employee questions that they'll need to answer. In the past, marijuana was dealt with [in workplace policy] as an illegal drug. But medical marijuana is available now, and recreational use will be next year. Employers see the impact and risk that it represents and want to get ahead of it." Alcohol v. cannabis The science isn't in on the effects of marijuana yet, either, making it difficult to predict how it will affect workers' behaviour or what level of intoxica- tion from cannabis can be accepted. Scientific research on the effects of can- nabis has not been widely conducted, no legal parameters have been estab- lished for impairment and the effects of the drug on the body are different L E G A L R E P O RT \ L A B O U R & E M P L O Y M E N T GARY NEILL Marijuana at work With legalized recreational pot coming, employment lawyers are anticipating a steady stream of legal issues By Elizabeth Raymer A

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