Trudeau government introduces sweeping changes to impaired driving laws

Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould introduced major changes to the country's impaired driving laws Thursday, including provisions that will allow for mandatoryroadside alcohol screening and new criminal offences for driving while high.

The legislation, introduced concurrently with the government's cannabis legalization bill, will allow police to demand a driver provide an "oral fluid sample"saliva if they suspect a driver is drug impaired. A positive reading could lead tofurther testing, including a blood test, to determine whether a criminal offence has been committed.

Three new drug-related offences will be also be created for drivers who have consumed drugs within two hours of driving. A driver who isfound to have twonanogramsbut less than five nanograms of THC per millilitreof blood could facea maximum fine of up to $1,000 (THC isthe primarypsychoactive found in cannabis).

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A driver who has a blood level of more than five nanogramsof THC, or has been drinking alcohol and smoking pot at the same time, will face afineand the possibility of jail time. In more serious cases, a drug-impaired driver could face up to 10 years if convicted.

The government did not specify which drug testing device it would recommend police use for enforcement, but other jurisdictionsuse the DrugWipesystem, which can detect traces of cannabis,opiates, cocaine, amphetamine, methamphetamines (MDMA, ecstasy), benzodiazepines and ketamine.

'New and stronger laws'

"Impaired driving is the leading cause of criminal death and injury inCanada," Liberal MP Bill Blair, the government's pot legalization czar, said Thursday inannouncing the legislation."In order to further protect Canadians, our government has committed to creating new and stronger laws to punish more severely those who drive while impaired by cannabis, alcohol and other drugs."

"This bill,if its passes,will be one of strongest impaired-driving pieces of legislation in the world and I'm very proud of that," Wilson-Raybould added.

Jody Wilson-Raybould says new impaired driving provisions are constitutional

7 years ago

Duration 1:47

The federal justice minister says mandatory drug and alcohol tests for drivers will pass the Charter test

However, by comparison, the European Union has a limit of just one nanogramof THC, and the United Kingdom has a limit of two nanograms. Australia and many U.S. states have zero tolerance, which effectively criminalizes driving with any detectable level of prohibited drugs in one's body.

Some researchers, including those at the U.S.-basedNational Institute on Drug Abuse, have suggested there is simply no adequate way to measure THC levels, or to determine just how drugged a person is in a roadside test.

Those concerns were shared by Conservative leadership contender Erin O'Toole.

"Public safety officials at all levels of government have outstanding concerns about how to implement marijuana legislation and how to manage the costs associated with it. Of great concern, [Prime Minister Justin] Trudeau has not addressed the fact thatthere are noproven, reliabletests yet available for determiningimpairment frommarijuana use," he said in a statement.

Mandatory alcohol breathalyzer testing

Police officers will also now be able to demand a breathalyzer sample from any driver they lawfully stop. Previously, a test could only be administered if an officer had "reasonable suspicion" that a driver was impaired by alcohol.

The government is making this change because its research shows many impaired drivers are able to escape detection at check stops. It is also aimed at reducing legal action over whether an officer actually had "reasonable suspicion" to ask a driver to blow on a devicefor a blood alcohol content reading.

I am confident of constitutionality of mandatory roadside testing.- Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould

The changes are part of the government's efforts to "repeal and replace" all transportation-related offences in the Criminal Code, with "a modern, simplified and coherent structure," according to literature provided by Health Canada.

"I will, as I do with all justice pieces of legislation, be tabling a charter statement. I am confident of constitutionality of mandatory roadside testing," Wilson-Raybould said. "This is not a deviceor a tool that doesn't exist in other places in the world. Infact, mandatory roadside testing in many countries has significantly reduced the number of deathson highways. I think that is of paramount concern," she said.

Loopholes to be closed

New laws will also eliminate, or restrict, common defences used by drivers facing impaired-driving charges in court.

Currently, drivers can avoid fines or a criminal conviction by claiming they consumed alcohol just before or during driving, and thus were not over the legal limit at the time they were driving because the alcohol was not yet fully absorbed.They can claim it was only later, at the time of testing, that they reached an illegal blood alcohol concentration.

The government said, in a background document distributed to reporters, that it would close that loophole by changing the timeframe for blowing "over 80" from "at the time of driving" to within two hours of driving.

Over 80 refers to a blood alcohol limit of 80milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitre of blood, or as it is commonly known, .08 blood alcohol concentration.

The justice minister also announced changes to the provincial interlock programs, a system of in-car alcohol breath screening devices that prevent a vehicle from starting if alcohol is detected.

Currently, a first-time offenderhas to wait a year before being admitted to an ignition interlock program in order to be able to drive again.

The proposed legislation would reduce the timeoffenders must wait before they can return to driving; there would be no wait for a first offence, three months for a second offence and six months for a subsequent offence.