Perry Lefko

Perry Lefko keeps you connected to all the news in the CFL on Sportsnet.ca.

CFL commissioner Mark Cohon shakes hands with CFLPA president Stu Laird.

The new CBA is part of the new harmonious world of the CFL, in which players and owners get along.

It is all too easy to be critical of the Canadian Football League for things it does wrong. So let's give credit for something it has done right.

The four-year collective bargaining agreement announced Tuesday between the CFL and the Players Association is historic. After all, it is not every day that a new CBA is unveiled in a setting in which all sides are present. It took place in a Toronto hotel, whereas past CBA agreements may have been announced with a media release or a conference call.

This was a chance to do a group hug and plug the brand.

This wasn't Gary Bettman and Bob Goodenow sitting side by side after bashing each other in the media.

What the CFL did is the type of thing professional sports leagues do to create photo opportunities that showcase a spirit of co-operation. Unlike many leagues beset by acrimonious negotiations between owners and players that lead to strikes or lockouts, there will be no stoppage of play come Thursday when the regular season kicks off.

A cynic could suggest the CFL could have merely rolled over the existing CBA and continue negotiating, which is allowed under Canadian labour laws, but that would be like a cloud hanging over everyone's head. Now that is not an issue and whatever happened behind close doors, which the two parties agreed not to negotiate publicly through the media, will no longer matter.

This is part of the brave new harmonious world of the CFL, in which the owners get along with each and now the players, too. At least for the next four years.

"Both sides at the table went into this (with the attitude), 'We need to do something that is good for this league and good for our players," CFL Commissioner Mark Cohon said. "The spirit of the the negotiations were collaborative and co-operative. We're here today, which you don't see that happen in a lot in professional sports leagues, having a joint press conference to concentrate on the next four years."

"We want the league to grow and prosper," CFLPA president Stu Laird said. "As players that's our goal as well. We understand where we want to go with league. When we come out of this we don't want to say as players we won this negotiation. We want to say both sides are in a win-win situation so we can move forward."

The are many new iniatives outlined in the agreement, namely the institution of a drug policy, which will be instituted in 2011 to allow for a phasing-in educational program to prevent the use of performance-enhancing drugs. The CFL lagged behind other leagues or sporting institutions without a drug policy for its players, for which it had been roundly roasted, namely by Dick Pound, the onetime head of the World Anti-Doping Agency. Under the new policy, the CFL will not test for recreational drugs such as marijuana, which the National Football League does. Ricky Williams was suspended from the NFL in 2006 for repeated usage of marijuana drug violations and played in the CFL for a year, after which rules were implemented to honour suspensions from other leagues.

"Our objective from the outset was to protect the integrity of our game and for that reason we concentrated on performance-enhancing drugs," CFL chief operating officer Michael Copeland said.

The targeted drugs are more in line with steroids and human-growth hormone.

"It's good for their health and it creates a level playing field," CFLPA lawyer Ed Molstad said about the players agreeing to performance-enhancing drug testing.

The testing, which will involve blood and urine samples, will occur in and out of season, and conducted by the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sports, using an independent lab with standards set by the WADA.

Copeland did not specify how much it would cost, only to say it will be in the "several hundreds of thousands" and will be paid for by the league. Twenty-five percent of the players will be tested in the first year, 35 per cent in 2012 and 2013.

Upon a first offence, a player is automatically subjected to mandatory testing and an assessment, followed by counselling, with the goal of working with the player to change his behaviour. The offender will be notified privately. A second offence triggers a three-game suspension, a third offence a one-year suspension, and a fourth offence a lifetime ban.

That's serious stuff, although contracts are not guaranteed in football, so a repeat offender will likely be weeded out, so to speak.

The introduction of a drug policy won't make more people want to buy tickets to see the players, knowing they will be forced to play drug-free, notwithstanding recreational drugs. But it's more about perception and professionalism. No longer can the CFL be accused of keeping its head in the sand for drug testing.

The CFL has also entered into a separate agreement with Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) to test the top 80 CIS prospects for the annual Evaluation Camp and CFL Canadian Draft. Suffice to say, this is a direct product of the fallout from the University of Waterloo drug scandal.

"This policy does the right things in the right order," Copeland said. "It focuses first on education."

It is interesting that for off-season testing, players will be given a 24-hour notice of an impending test. Failure to comply will be a violation of the policy. Unless there is some amazing way to flush a performance-enhancing drug out of the system, 24 hours will not matter.

Other aspects of the agreement include: a mini off-season non-contact training camp, which is a first; an increase in the $4.2 million salary cap to $4.4 million in 2013: an increase in the minimum salary from $41,000 to $45,000 by 2013; and increases in pension funding and improved benefits.

The owners will receive a greater share of the league's gross revenues, which will help teams such as Toronto and Hamilton, which are annually losing millions, and other franchises spending money on capital investments and any new franchises coming on board.

The issue of the suppposed reduction of starting Canadians from four to seven became nothing more than a red herring.

However you analyze it, the CFL made some important gains as a league with its new CBA.

Let the games begin on Thursday.