While Toronto has earmarked money to drug test bus drivers at random, Ottawa's solicitor is painting a picture making it seem unlikely OC Transpo drivers will ever go through this process.
A memo sent to the transit commission and council by Rick O'Connor - responding to questions at City Hall - points out legal hurdles that would be difficult to leap.
They include a line of reasoning from the Supreme Court which says random testing should only happen based on evidence of a problem putting people's safety at risk, and that the employer must have exhausted all other less-intrusive means of addressing it.
Additionally, the Canadian Human Rights Commission sets out that drug and alcohol testing regimes are discriminatory.
O'Connor notes "alcohol and drug testing may be incorporated into an individualized return to work or accommodation plan for an employee, where warranted."
The movement in Toronto was spurred by a fatal crash in 2011 which led to marijuana possession charges against a driver. He was not found to be impaired.
The TTC transit union has been challenging random drug testing using legal means.