Canada does, however, have a national strategy. The Strategy to Reduce Impaired Driving (STRID) is a collaboration of federal, provincial and territorial governments as well as road safety organizations including the Canada Safety Council. STRID is an initiative of the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators (CCMTA), which receives its mandate from the Council of Ministers Responsible for Transportation and Highway Safety. Since it began in 1990 under the Conservative government of the time, STRID has provided leadership for all jurisdictions in the fight against impaired driving.

All jurisdictions are united in the fight against drinking and driving. Specific sanctions for drinking drivers vary from one part of the country to another, but in all cases they are strict. The safety benefits have been impressive. According to the Traffic Injury Research Foundation, motor vehicle deaths on public roadways involving a drinking driver dropped from 1,296 in 1995 to 815 in 2004. While we still have a long way to go, a 37 percent decrease over 10 years shows progress is being made. During the same period, the U.S. saw no decrease in its impaired driving fatalities.

The Canada Safety Council is concerned that changes to the Criminal Code being proposed by the federal government may compromise this progress.

Bill C-376 was tabled in the House of Commons by Conservative MP Ron Cannan from British Columbia .  It proposes a new summary conviction offence under the Criminal Code for drivers with blood alcohol level greater than 50 mg%, who are currently dealt with under provincial and territorial traffic codes. The person charged would get a ticket and have the option of paying a fine, thus avoiding a court appearance. Payment of the fine would be an admission of guilt, so the offender would have a criminal record.  For a first conviction the penalty would be a $300 fine and 45-day federal driving prohibition.  Subsequent offences would incur a $600 fine and 90-day federal driving prohibition. The offender's criminal record would be cleared after two years provided there are no further offences. 

"We know the proposed changes are well-intentioned," says Canada Safety Council president Jack Smith, "but they ignore a well-established national strategy with widespread support. MPs must seriously assess the need to take such a novel and unproven approach, as well as the ripple effect of implementing it. From a safety standpoint, we believe it would be counterproductive."

According to Smith, safety considerations should come first. Canada 's impaired driving statistics indicate that the current strategy is working. Moreover, there is absolutely no evidence this new and dramatically different direction would be more effective than the measures now being pursued under STRID. The Canada Safety Council's position is that lower-BAC drivers are more effectively dealt with outside the Criminal Code.

The implementation issues are huge. Criminal Code legislation must be air-tight because there will inevitably be court challenges. No one wants to answer "yes" when a job application or customs officer asks if they have ever been convicted of a criminal offence.  Canada 's already-overburdened courts could be challenged to handle the increased case load resulting from the new charges. If changes must be made to other parts of the criminal code to enable this approach, will they affect other crimes? A new bureaucracy will need the resources to track offenders and make sure criminal records are erased after two offence-free years. Other countries will have to agree to honour the pardons. Police enforcement efforts will be slowed down because it takes hours longer to lay a criminal charge than to give a traffic violation or administrative suspension. As the list goes on, the costs go up - money the Canada Safety Council says would be better spent on enforcing and improving existing countermeasures.

In addition, by stepping unilaterally into this important area of provincial and territorial jurisdiction, the federal government could jeopardize the high level of co-operation that has characterized STRID. Provinces and territories are putting into place improved measures to address the problem of low-BAC drivers, programs this legislation could override. CCMTA, representing the provinces and territories, has published a position paper rejecting the use of the Criminal Code below 80 mg%.

Bill C-376 is slated for its final hour of debate on April 30. 

References: www.ccmta.ca/english/committees/rsrp/strid/strid-reports.cfm

Return to top of page