MPs propose allowing random breath tests
October 24, 2009
Tonda MacCharles
OTTAWA BUREAU
OTTAWA–The federal Conservative government is weighing whether to amend the Criminal Code to allow random breath-testing of drivers even in the absence of grounds to suspect a driver has been drinking.
The tougher measure, similar to laws already in place in Ireland and Australia, would be one of the biggest changes in impaired driving legislation in 40 years, and is endorsed in a justice committee report representing all parties.
Justice Minister Rob Nicholson responded to the committee with a pledge to raise the issue as a priority with his provincial colleagues "with a view to developing a comprehensive set of reforms.
"The administration of justice is within, for the most part, provincial jurisdiction and so any changes in that regard would involve the provinces," Nicholson said Friday.
The federal government has the power to write criminal laws in the country, but provinces are responsible for administering them.
Right now, police must have reasonable grounds to suspect a driver is impaired before they demand a breath sample.
Failure or refusal to provide a breath or blood sample upon demand is also an offence that carries the same penalty as driving while impaired.
The federal law prohibits anyone from driving with a blood-alcohol level of more than .08 per cent.
The justice committee acknowledged several calls to amend the law to call for a lower blood alcohol threshold of .05, but said experts have no consensus about whether that would make roads safer.
It cited evidence suggesting a lower blood alcohol limit could overwhelm the courts by tripling the current number of about 50,000 impaired-driving cases each year.
Toronto Star
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