‘Wake up people’: mom says proposed drunk-driving law falls short

The mother of a designated driver who was killed by an impaired driver says proposed legislation to prohibit school bus and semi drivers from having booze in their system doesn’t go far enough.

“Wake up people, it should be zero for everybody,” said Karen Reimer, whose daughter Jordyn Reimer, 24, was killed in 2022 after being hit by a pickup travelling at 108 kilometres an hour on a residential street in Transcona.

Under Bill 31 (The Highway Traffic Amendment Act), drivers of class 1 to 4 vehicles — including semi-truck and bus operators — would not be allowed to have any alcohol in their blood.

Reimer told a legislative committee Wednesday laws aren’t moving the needle when it comes to impaired driving deaths and injuries. The province had 13 impaired driving fatalities in 2025, the same number that it had a decade ago. Last year, there were 62 serious injuries, an increase from 60 in 2015, as reported by Manitoba Public Insurance.

“I just feel like all people should be held to the highest standard,” she said in an interview Friday.

Manitoba’s legislation is expected to pass before the summer break in June.

Justice Minister Matt Wiebe called the bill part of the “incremental steps” the government is taking to limit impaired drivers, when he introduced the legislation March 5.

“We are going to continue to push the envelope, and that means sending a clear message from our government that impaired driving is not OK,” Wiebe said Friday.

“What we’re talking about with Bill 31 is those drivers who are driving more dangerous vehicles and who are doing so in a professional capacity,” said the minister, who is also responsible for MPI.

“There is a different standard for those folks and the expectation is that they are not impaired in any way. That’s a very high standard that we’re asking them to meet. It’s appropriate,” the minister said.

Tory justice critic Wayne Balcaen said the “vast majority” of impaired driving collisions and deaths involve Class 5-rated vehicles. As a former police officer and breathalyzer technician who conducted thousands of tests on suspected impaired drivers, Balcaen said he personally supports a zero blood-alcohol limit for all drivers.

“From a police officer’s perspective, it is one of those absolutely preventable issues,” said the former Brandon police chief Friday.

Wiebe’s legislative changes are “positive” but won’t move the dial on impaired driving deaths and injuries in Manitoba, said Reimer.

“I would like to see more impactful changes.”

She spoke up last year about legislation that imposed a lifetime driver’s licence suspension for anyone convicted of an impaired driving offence involving bodily injury or death twice within a 10-year period.

It’s frustrating to me that you just keep getting chance after chance after chance to do it until you finally succeed at killing somebody,” Reimer said Friday. Starting Jan. 1 in Ontario, first-time offenders who kill somebody while driving impaired or dangerously will lose their licence for life.

“I think that we need to be looking at what Ontario did,” said Reimer.

Balcaen said he also supports the “one-and-done” law. “We should do everything we can as legislators to make sure innocent individuals aren’t injured or killed.”

A lifetime ban won’t stop some drivers from getting behind the wheel when they’re impaired, Reimer said. That’s why she’s joined Mothers Against Drunk Driving Canada in calling for mandatory ignition interlock systems in all new vehicles. The device prevents the vehicle from starting if alcohol is detected or will sound an alarm if the vehicle is in motion.

“People opposed seatbelts, people opposed airbags, but we learned that those are safety measures that save lives,” Reimer said. “This is another example where technology can be used in vehicles that can save lives.”

Tyler Scott Goodman was sentenced to seven years for the death of Jordyn Reimer on May 1, 2022.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca