In the News

'Fines are going up'
Telegraph-Journal
By Mary-Ellen Saunders/Telegraph-Journal
December 3, 2009

Kings County provincial court Judge Henrik Tonning has promised to increase fines for people convicted of drunk driving.

Judge Henrik Tonning made the decision late last month after five people pleaded guilty to impaired driving before him in less than an hour.

"Next year, fines are going up in Kings County," Tonning told the crowded court room. "I thought a $1,150 fine was a deterrent, it would be to me, but I guess it's not. We have an eight-page docket choked with impaired driving charges."

Tonning did not say how much he plans to increase fines, but he told the Telegraph-Journal the financial penalties will go up "in the hope of discouraging this alarming trend."

Tonning said that, while other criminal offences are declining, impaired driving charges continue to climb.

"Given what's happened in the past year it's clear that fines being presently imposed are having little to no effect," Tonning said in an interview. "The only tool I have at my disposal is to increase the fine in an attempt to slow down what we clearly see as a trend."

So far this year, there has been 6.5 per cent more impaired driving charges laid than in 2008, said Sgt. Evan Scott, who is in charge of the traffic division of the Rothesay Regional Police Force.

"The message really isn't getting out there," Scott said. "If the fear of getting caught isn't a deterrent, maybe the judge hitting them in the pocketbook will be."

Scott said the police force has documented a 21.4 per cent increase in impaired driving complaints in the past year.

He said there are no statistics that show whether more people are actually driving drunk. What he does know is that more people are getting caught, more people are calling to report impaired drivers and the police are conducting more checkstops to catch them.

"Impaired driving is still the leading cause of criminal death in Canada," Scott said. "We have to do whatever we can to reduce those numbers."

Kelly Winchester, a Crown prosecutor, said that every Tuesday in Hampton court there are six to 10 suspected impaired drivers scheduled to enter a plea. She said that number concerns her.

"I have been in Kings County in the vicinity of 10 years and, unfortunately, the incidences of impaired drivers have probably increased in the last 10 years," Winchester said. "That is a sad statement with all the education and all the other availabilities for people to get home."

The Criminal Code of Canada sets a minimum of a $1,000 fine and a 12 month driving prohibition for first-time impaired drivers. There is no maximum set for first-time offenders unless the impaired driver causes death or bodily harm. If an impaired driver causes death the maximum sentence is life in prison and if the driver causes bodily harm they can face up to 10 years in prison.

Impaired drivers are subject to a mandatory 30-day jail sentence if it is their second offence and 120 days in jail if it is their third.

Courts in southern New Brunswick generally impose the minimum fine, plus a $150 victim fine surcharge, unless there are aggravating factors. Courts generally impose a fine of about $1,500 for impaired drivers that have blood-alcohol levels double and more than double the legal limit of 0.08 grams per 100 millilitres of blood, though that amount may be higher given the circumstances of each case.

"In rural areas where incomes aren't as significant as urban areas you would think $1,000 fine and a $150 surcharge would be significant, but that doesn't seem to be the case," Tonning said.

It is hard to find anyone who disagrees with Tonning's decision to increase fines.

Defence lawyer John King, who acts as duty counsel in Tonning's court, stands behind the judge's decision.

"I have no problem with increased fines or incarceration," King said. "I'm out there on the road, too. We all are and I don't want them coming at me and my family. I represent people, yes. But I don't defend criminal activity."

Rick McNulty, president of the Saint John chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, applauds the Kings County judge.

"It's good that he is going to crack down, it really is," McNulty said. "I have said for a long time that the $1,000 and a ban for a year is not a deterrent because the majority of them are out driving. Hit them in the pocketbook. If they know that going in maybe it will strike a chord. We can only hope. The sentences have been far too light."

McNulty, who lost his daughter and her husband three years ago to an accident in which the driver was drunk, said he believes first-time offenders should lose their licences for at least five years and should face higher fines.

MADD Canada puts out a report card scoring each province according to the laws and restrictions imposed for impaired driving. New Brunswick received a D-plus on the 2009 report card, placing the province in second-last place ahead of Nunavut.

McNulty said the province is headed in the right direction with its new restrictions on young drivers and the program MADD helped establish that encourages people to call 911 if they spot an impaired driver on the road.

Also see...

Rating the Provinces