RCMP Staff Sgt. Jerry Nutbrown brings you behind the scenes with a serious of columns taking you behind police work and how it’s done in our community. If you have a question you think needs to be answered in Behind the Bison, send it to admin@borderpulse.ca and we will be sure to share it with him.
I would find it hard to believe that anyone that drives in Canada is not aware of our impaired driving
laws making it an offense to drive impaired. For today, I am not going to get into the legality of the
offense but rather some other peripherally related items.
First, impaired driving laws in the Criminal Code are changed from time-to-time with the last significant
overhaul in 2018. Over the past number of years provinces have instituted their own impaired driving
laws providing a second option for law enforcement. Offenses through the criminal system carry harsher
penalties than the provincial sanctions, but both have their merits.
The most significant change in 2018 was authority granted to officers to demand breath samples
without any reasonable suspicion that the driver has consumed alcohol or is impaired. The introduction
of mandatory alcohol screening (MAS) allowed a breath demand to be provided to the driver at any
traffic stop. This single factor is responsible for an increase in impaired driving charges as governments
address the ever-present issue.
From January 1 to April 12 of this year in the City of Lloydminster, we had 39 people charged with
impaired operations and one more is still under investigation. The 39 charged are a combination of
provincial sanctions and criminal charges.
There are a few differences between each process, and a significant one is a criminal charge/record with
an officer charging a driver criminally. The provincial process is quicker having some immediate
consequences and a tight timeframe for an appeal. Typically, the specific circumstances of the incident is
what will dictate how the officer proceeds.
As an example, if a driver is impaired causing a collision and harming someone, the provincial process is
not the process to be used. If a driver is not egregiously impaired and they don’t have any previous
history of impaired driving, then the provincial process is more likely.
Besides the time each process takes, the consequences are a big difference between them, and it is
more than a potential criminal record. The criminal process can lead to numerous consequences upon a
conviction by a judge which could include extended jail time, a large fine and a long driving prohibition.
We do realize that we are not catching every driver who decides to drive while impaired, so the 39
drivers charged indicates a larger number are actually doing it. Some of those driving impaired are doing
so by consuming other substances besides alcohol. The MAS is specific to alcohol impairment detection
but we do have trained Drug Recognition Experts in the detachment that are called upon when someone
is exhibiting impairment but alcohol testing isn’t showing that alcohol is the cause.
My unfortunate experience is that I have attended about the same number of deaths caused by
distracted driving as I have deaths caused by impaired drivers. All these drivers were very likely aware of
the consequences of driving impaired or distracted in yet, they all still willingly made the decisions to do
so.
Read more: Behind the Bison – Bail Hearings
