Bill C-376 will Establish New 0.05% BAC Impaired Driving Law that will Save Lives and make Canadian Roads Safer

February 5, 2007 – Kelowna B.C. MP Ron Cannan’s private member’s legislation, Bill C-376, to establish a new 0.05% BAC legal limit for drinking and driving will be debated in the House of Commons tomorrow.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD Canada) supports the MP’s initiative because it will ‘significantly reduce the numbers of Canadians being killed and injured in impaired driving crashes.’

Mr. Cannan’s legislation introduces a new 0.05% BAC offence to complement the existing Criminal Code impaired driving offences. The new measures would differ from the current 0.08% BAC offence in three significant ways. First, the 0.05% BAC offence streamlines procedures and contains ticketing provisions. Second, the proposed offence contains lower penalties than those for the 0.08% BAC. Third, the proposed offence also contains special criminal record provisions.

Robert Solomon, MADD Canada’s Legal Director and a professor in the Law Faculty at the University of Western Ontario, states the Bill will help keep impaired drivers off the roads. “We are supportive of Mr. Cannan’s legislation because research from around the world indicates such measures will save lives on Canada’s roads. His Bill will effectively reduce the amount a person can currently drink and then legally drive.”

Professor Solomon says, “The proposed 0.05% BAC offence is designed to deter impaired driving without being unduly punitive, or creating greater burdens on the police and the courts. The ticket option of pleading guilty without having to go to court may discourage accused persons from needlessly challenging the charges.”

“This is a very reasonable approach to making our roads safer from impaired driving crashes,” says Professor Solomon. “A 0.05% BAC level is the appropriate legal limit when considering the risk impaired drivers pose to all motorists who must share the roads with them,” Professor Solomon adds.

Andrew Murie, MADD Canada’s CEO says, “This legislation will not interfere with ‘social drinking.’ It won’t stop people from having a drink or two after work or with a meal.  It simply provides police with a further option for getting that person who has had too much to drink off the road and out of harm’s way.”

For a detailed discussion of the case for a 0.05% Criminal Code offence, MADD Canada has posted on its website a recent article that appeared in Criminal Law Quarterly.

For further information, visit www.madd.ca, or call:

Andrew Murie, MADD Canada’s CEO
1-800-665-6233, ext. 224

Also see...

THE ELEMENTS OF BILL C-376: A WORKABLE 0.05% BAC CRIMINAL CODE OFFENCE (PDF)