If Mothers Against Drunk Driving CEO Andrew Murie has his way, drivers across Canada could be forced to take a breathalyzer test anywhere, anytime — whether police suspect drunk driving or not.
And Murie may get it.
“We had one of Canada’s leading constitutional lawyers look at the issue of random breath testing,” said Murie, who was on-hand Tuesday for MADD Canada’s annual launch of its Project Red Ribbon campaign in Toronto. “He said it would probably be challenged but it would be upheld because driving is a privilege and the benefits to society far outweigh the infringement (on drivers).”
Murie has some big backers in the random breath testing debate.
Federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson has endorsed such a change in the law, echoing a June 2009 recommendation from the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights that Ottawa amend the criminal code to allow police across Canada to conduct random breath tests.
RBT would replace Canada’s current, 40-year-old way of doing things, where police can demand a breath test only if they have reason to suspect a driver is too drunk to drive.
Ottawa said it would talk to the provinces first, then consider the changes.
Murie sites countries that have RBT — Australia, France, Germany, New Zealand and Ireland are some — pointing out they have seen less and less carnage on their roadways.
“We’re way behind the rest of the democratic societies,” said Murie. “There’s a difference of about 20% in the decrease in deaths and injuries (between) the countries that have it and the countries that don’t.”
But RBT is a slippery slope for a “free and democratic country” such as Canada, said Nathalie Des Rosiers of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.
Increasing police power to that point, she said, would send the truth north strong and free toward becoming a police state.
“It’s about giving the power to the police to arrest someone anywhere, anytime and subject them to a criminal investigation where they have to comply, even though there is no reasonable grounds that they’ve done anything wrong,” said Des Rosier.
A big reason RBT won’t work, she said, is many of the hardcore drinkers will get behind the wheel, regardless of random testing.
There is also an overall lack of police spot checks, as well as not enough alternative transportation, such as taxis, Des Rosiers said.
Everyday people also need to be more proactive — if you see someone about to get behind the wheel, speak up, Des she said.
But Carolyn Swinson, past president of MADD’s Toronto chapter, may not agree.
Swinson looks at the issue from a personal perspective and like many current and former MADD staffers, she is driven by her own loss.
“I think about Rob every day,” said Swinson of her son, who was killed at the hands of a drunk driver 17 years ago.
Swinson, who still holds back tears when talking about it, says her son’s death set her to work toward a day when no parent has to go though what she did.
“You lose a child, and it is the most painful thing,” she said, “and you make a decision to take revenge or to do something, which is why I got involved with MADD.”
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