Condo builder investigating after workers spotted allegedly smoking pot

TORONTO — The builder of a downtown condo is investigating after two workers are alleged to have spent their lunch break Thursday smoking marijuana.

Shortly after noon Thursday, Global News observed two men in hard hats leave the Chaz site on Charles Street between Yonge and Church Streets and walk east towards Church Street, where they lit a joint. The smell of marijuana was evident as they walked south, passing the joint between them.

The men ducked into an alley beside an eatery at 600 Church St. and finished smoking. They proceeded west on Gloucester Street, then north on Yonge Street to a McDonald’s.

The two workers walked east on Charles Street and briefly stopped to look at a condo work site across the street before returning to work at the Chaz site.

Bruce Sonnenberg, district manager of PCL Constructors Canada Inc., said the company is looking into the alleged drug use.

“We take this matter very seriously and the incident is being investigated further,” Sonnenberg said in a statement to Global News.

“Our policy for anyone working on one of our sites, including trade workers and subcontractors, is zero tolerance for drug or alcohol use.”

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Calls to Edenshaw Developments Ltd., the Mississauga company selling the Chaz condos, were not returned.

According to the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, drug use by workers “can cause serious accidents” where alertness and quick reflexes are required.

In 2010, the Construction Owners Association of Alberta implemented the Canadian Model for Providing a Safe Workplace, which stated “the inappropriate use of alcohol and drugs can have serious adverse effects on the safety and well-being of workers, contractors and the public.”

The guidelines specify that “no worker shall report to work or be at work under the influence of alcohol or drugs that may or will affect their ability to work safely.”