Mr. Speaker, I am very happy that members of all parties have worked together to ensure that this very important bill gets passed before summer. The summer season brings with it travel holidays for a large number of families. It is imperative that we get the bill through the House as soon as possible to keep impaired drivers off busy roads.
I am glad the government and the other opposition parties have finally come around with their support for the bill. It was the PC Party that pushed for the reintroduction of a clause and we were very happy to see the issue come before committee.
I thank MADD Canada for its consistent support and help on this issue. I am glad the government priorized the legislation and brought it to the justice committee. I thank the all party committee for the enabling legislation to make it through committee without delay or stalling tactics.
From day one the PC Party was the only party that agreed the government's priority at this time should be the protection of human life from needless tragedies and loss of life which we see on Canadian roads every year.
Bill C-18 deals with the life imprisonment provision that was originally part of Bill C-82, an act to amend the criminal code respecting impaired driving which became law in the last parliament. Bill C-18 will allow a judge leeway to invoke a life sentence for impaired driving causing death.
I believe it is important to stop a moment and think about all those who lost their life because someone chose to drink and drive. It is a very serious crime.
Too many young people lose their life, too many parents lose their children, and too many children lose their parents because of alcohol. It is a very serious issue and I am very happy to see that today the House is recognizing the havoc alcohol can wreak on our families.
The PC Party supported Bill C-82 but wanted it to be improved upon from current outdated legislation with tougher sanctions, fines and suspensions. The bill did not give police enough power to protect society from the hard core drinkers who are resistant to change.
Tragically most people have experienced or have known a person whose life has been affected due to the careless actions of a drunk driver. Criminal offences involving drunk drivers have declined 23% between 1994 and 1997, but how many do not get caught?
High school proms and summer vacation time are upon us. MADD statistics state that one in every eight deaths and injuries in road crashes is a teenager. More teenagers die each year as a result of road crashes than any other cause of death. Teen statistics have declined in recent years but recent progress has stalled. In 1997, according to the most recent statistics available, 404 youths aged between age 15 and 19 were killed and another 28,780 were injured in road crashes.
It is also troubling that 40% of the teenage drivers killed had been drinking, three-quarters with alcohol levels in excess of the legal limit of 80 mg per cent and 44% with levels in excess of 150 mg per cent.
Dangerous habits that develop at an early age become the problems of chronic impaired drivers in later life. Groups like MADD are working hard to deal with this problem at an early age, trying to raise the minimum age for drinking, the minimum age for driving, and introducing SmartCard technology to verify the age of an individual trying to buy alcohol. Yet MADD has not been getting enough co-operation from the federal government.
It is hoped that the year long push of the PC Party for Bill C-18 to be passed will benefit the MADD members for all their hard work in stopping impaired driving among all ages of the population.
Continuing with the get tough approach, the Nova Scotia Tory government is considering whether it can charge room and board of $100 or more per day to incarcerated drunk drivers. This idea is only in its initial stages with many details which would need to be ironed out. It along with the results of Operation Christmas shows the positive tough steps the Nova Scotia Tory government is taking to solve this problem.
We also have in New Brunswick what we call Operation Red Nose in which volunteers drive people during the Christmas and New Year's holidays. It certainly works. We also need to have our young people involved in it so they learn that it is not right to drink and drive. As parents we have a responsibility to show our children that it is not right and to set the right example. Not only teenagers drink and drive. We all know that a lot of adult parents set the wrong example.
It is time for the federal government to follow the lead of other provinces. The most horrific side of impaired driving is when we see and hear of the fatalities, the innocent victims who are killed as a result of the thoughtless, selfish act of an impaired person who decides to get behind the wheel.
Last summer I had the opportunity to go to a high school in my riding, LJR, to see a play about a car accident which involved alcohol. Everyone was there, including the ambulance, the RCMP and the kids. According to the play, some kids had been killed in the accident. It was interesting to see these high school students acting out a very serious accident involving alcohol. It is very important that events like that take place in high schools so the teenagers see firsthand the impact of drinking and driving, of not wearing seatbelts and so on.
The federal government has an opportunity to send the message that drinking and driving will no longer be tolerated. Bill C-18 is a great step in the right direction, but we must continue. I commend the all-party justice committee that is sending a clear message through Bill C-18 that if a person drinks and drives and kills an innocent victim, that person is no better than someone who walks down the street with a loaded gun, chooses a victim at random and shoots the person dead.
Increasing the time limit for breathalyser and ASD testing to three hours and strictly enforcing the over .08% blood alcohol concentration limit are all effective amendments to help police in performing their duties.
Although I spoke earlier about the need to educate young drivers, education will only prevent future impaired driving fatalities. Currently the biggest problem is not with youth, but with a generation that should know better. This generation has to take a lot of responsibility for what is happening. A lot of us may be showing the wrong example.
The Canadian Automobile Association has said that the message of the danger of drunk driving is getting through to drivers aged 16 to 21, but impaired driving remains a startling problem for the age group 35 to 45. Thus, hand in hand with Bill C-18 we need more education. It is very important that our provincial counterparts also realize that there is a role to play in our school system and that they should make the time to speak to our students to explain the dangers.
The Insurance Bureau of Canada has said that over a two year period an impaired driving conviction costs at least $5,000 in additional premiums to the consumer.
We certainly support this piece of legislation. It is long overdue. We have to send a very strong message that drinking and driving is not right. It kills and it will no longer be tolerated in this country.