Liberals to table legal defence of crackdown on impaired driving

The Liberal government will soon table a defense of its sweeping reforms on drug and alcohol-impaired driving in Canada.

The bill was tabled last month at the same time as legislation to legalise marijuana and has tougher penalties and new powers for police to demand mandatory roadside breath samples. The government has maintained it is charter-proof, but many legal experts say new provisions go too far and violate fundamental rights. The bill could ultimately pass or fail under a test around Section 1 of the charter, which allows imposed limits to an individual’s rights as justified for the public good. Right now, an officer must have reasonable grounds to suspect a driver is impaired before demanding a breathalyzer. Under the bill, anyone could be required to blow after being lawfully stopped in their car.

The government has said the goal is to nab more people who are now managing to elude detection, and also to reduce legal action over whether an officer actually had reasonable grounds for suspicion to demand the breathalyzer.