Ottawa tackling impaired driving

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MADD supports random testing. (DARRYL DYCK / THE CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES)

Ottawa is moving a step closer to changing how police in Canada go after drunk drivers.

Federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson will meet with provincial justice ministers today in Vancouver to get their blessing to rewrite the law and give police the authority to conduct random roadside breath tests.

The initiative is supported by police and Mothers Against Drunk Driving, but upsets some civil libertarians who say it gives police too much power.

"I'm really interested to hear what the feds have to say," Manitoba Attorney General Andrew Swan said Wednesday. "I think the hope is that by having more and more initiatives like this you do the most important thing, which is to stop people from drinking and driving."

Swan and other provincial justice ministers are in British Columbia for two days of meetings.

Random breath testing has been discussed at the national level for more than two years and, if adopted, would replace Canada's 40-year-old legislation on impaired driving. The current law says police can only administer breathalyzer testing if they have a reasonable suspicion of drunk driving. Random testing would eliminate that.

Nicholson has said he wants to consult with his provincial counterparts before he puts forward a proposed new law in Parliament.

Doug Mowbray, Manitoba head of MADD, said random testing would save lives.

"It's estimated 1,200 people die each year in alcohol-related collisions in Canada," Mowbray said. "Random breath testing would be a new weapon against criminals who drink and drive."

Mowbray's son Patrick was killed by an impaired driver several years ago.

"I've talked to a lot of police officers and they tell me their hands seem to be handcuffed by the current law," Mowbray said. "It's a frustrating fight."

Police also support the change.

"My opinion is that it is a minor invasion for a noble purpose," said Staff Sgt. Mark Hodgson of the Winnipeg Police Service's central traffic unit.

Hodgson said a new law would likely be challenged under Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms for unreasonable search and seizure.

Winnipeg Police Service Sgt. Rob Riffel, who heads up impaired driving countermeasures for city police, said with a new law fewer people would drink and drive for fear they'd have a greater chance of getting caught.

But Riffel added police already have the authority to conduct random checks under a 1990 Supreme Court ruling. The ruling said while random checks were a form of arbitrary detention, it was still a justifiable infringement to make the nation's highways and streets safe.

A recent Ipsos Reid poll commissioned by MADD Canada found that an overwhelming majority of Canadians supported random breath testing and agreed that it is a reasonable intrusion on drivers.

-- With files from the wire services

bruce.owen@freepress.mb.ca

The problem with existing breath sample law

CURRENTLY, police have the power to make random stops of drivers either at an organized checkpoint or on patrol.

They can demand licensing, registration and insurance papers. If they have reasonable suspicion -- based on their observations and interactions with the drivers -- to suspect the driver has been consuming alcohol, they can demand a non-evidentiary roadside breath test. If the test indicates the driver has a blood-alcohol content (BAC) of .08 per cent or higher, the police can demand a second test on an approved instrument. The results of that second test on the approved instrument are admissible in court as evidence of the driver's BAC.

The problem with the existing law is that it is not an effective deterrent for impaired driving. The likelihood of an impaired driver ever being charged under the current law is extremely low.

-- Source: MADD Canada

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition October 14, 2010 B3