First, thank you for hearing us today. Our apologies for being late. Unfortunately, we were directed to another building; that is why we were late.
I am not a lawyer, but I am an expert witness. I am called upon to testify in impairment cases all the time. So I am well aware of BillC-2.
The problem I see with this bill is that we must first understand that when breathalyzers began to be used at the end of the 1960s, they were a compromise. A breathalyzer does not show alcohol levels directly. It uses statistics to establish a credible level of blood ethanol.
There are a number of problems linked to the use of a breathalyzer. Even under our present legislation, there are people who, at levels close to the legal limit, are not guilty. Because their physiology does not match the calibration of the machine, they would be found guilty without question if they were not able to present evidence to the contrary.
Even at present, generally speaking, defence counsel and expert witnesses are fighting to ensure that police forces are subject to checks and balances. Determining blood alcohol levels indirectly already creates prejudices in the minds of the public. Not only are we fighting that, but you will also notice that, in the Criminal Code, while it is a crime to drive with more than 80 mg of alcohol in the blood, there is nothing that requires police forces to maintain and check the reliability of the machines they use. The Alcohol Test Committee and the Canadian Society of Forensic Science have made recommendations, but we have realized that in a number of cases—we have just gone through one with the Montreal police—people did not care in the slightest.
If a bill like C-2 is passed, with no requirements and no mechanism to force police to make checks, because of a desire to put teeth into the bill, you have to realize that it will be just about impossible to contest. Scientifically, in my opinion, it will be impossible, for all practical purposes, for people who fail a breathalyzer test when they are arrested to show that the machine was not working. At most, you could show that its reliability was in question, but it is almost impossible. A blood test should be taken at the same time as the breath sample. This is very important to understand because we are not talking about a direct measurement. It does not measure the blood directly, it calculates.
I will stop there, because I am being told that the time is almost up. When breathalyzers were introduced, the Criminal Code even provided for keeping the sample, as is done with blood, so that the accused would be able to have objective evidence to the contrary. That was never put into effect, and it is certainly not provided for in Bill C-2.