Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to support the legislation introduced in this chamber, which has been initiated by the member for Lakeland. I want to congratulate him for his initiative and publicly acknowledge the importance of this legislative proposal before the House today.
As the Bloc member said, I think it is very important to send this bill to a committee of the House to be studied and discussed in depth.
It is very important that we recognize the initiatives taken in the House to deal with the very serious problem of drinking and driving in our society today and that we do everything we can as a Parliament to study, review and hear witnesses on legislation as we have before us today.
I know the Liberals in the House today have suggested there are some problems with the bill. It is my preference to ensure that we get this before committee to have a full discussion, hear witnesses and, if necessary, to amend the bill to ensure that it is in full compliance with the charter provisions.
There is nothing more important we can do as parliamentarians than address a very serious problem in our society today which has had such a major impact on the lives of Canadians everywhere. I am very pleased to have the opportunity to stand in the House and support the bill.
I know when the Mothers Against Drunk Driving were here in their last lobby on Hill, they challenged each and every one of us to take action. They were looking for MPs to do something concrete, not to give lip service. I regret I have not had the opportunity to present an initiative in the House, a bill or a motion, but I am very happy to support the initiative of the member for Lakeland, and any other suggestions before the House that deal with a very serious problem.
It has been said throughout this debate, and the evidence has been recapped many times over, that we are dealing with the number one criminal cause of death in Canada. It shocks me every time I see the statistics, and realize that an average of 4 Canadians are killed and 200 are injured everyday as a result of drunk driving. We know from each of our own communities the impact this kind of tragic situation has on the lives of families.
Recently in Winnipeg two young people, just beginning their lives with great expectations and hopes, were cut down in the prime of their lives, one in a traffic accident with a driver who was drunk and the other a pedestrian who was cut down by a drunk driver. The families of those individuals are devastated, and we lost two young people who had so much to offer the country. Everyday we hear stories like that repeated over and over again.
In the year 2000, 1,069 people were killed in alcohol related crashes, and 75,000 Canadians are impacted by impaired drivers every year. Impaired drivers getting behind the wheel of a car occurs 12.5 million times every year. However, only 70,000 are charged with impaired driving every year. The death rate from impaired driving is two to three times the national murder rate. Road crashes are the leading cause of death for persons aged 10 to 14. Thirty-six per cent of fatally injured drivers were drinking prior to the collision. The list goes on and the statistics go on. It is a serious problem, a grave problem and one that is entirely preventable.
Everything we can do as a Parliament to improve legislation, to work with organizations like MADD and to urge our provincial counterparts to take other action is important.
I am very proud that I come from a province where the government takes this matter very seriously. The minister of justice, the Hon. Gord Mackintosh, has undertaken numerous initiatives to deal with the serious problem of drinking and driving. As a result, Manitoba, by all accounts, is at the top of the list of provincial governments that are prepared to take on this issue with a vengeance.
I know other provinces are doing their part. We will continue to make progress, but for many affected by this horrible situation, progress is too slow. Change seems to be at a snail's pace.
The bill before us is one way we can speed up the agenda and address it with a vengeance. I appreciate the fact that we have before us legislation that would actually enhance police enforcement and eliminate spurious defences.
We have heard about the intention of the bill which is to respond to the Carter defence, whereby the accused testifies that he or she has had only a small amount to drink prior to the offence. The defence calls a toxicologist to confirm that the accused's blood alcohol content would definitely have been below the legal limit if such a small amount were consumed.
The court accepts the accused's evidence. The test results are completely disregarded, even if they were administered properly, consistent with the reading on the roadside screening device and are supported by the officer's evidence that the accused showed signs of intoxication.
That is the Carter defence and is one of the things the bill attempts to do to address the outcome of that kind of defence. I believe the bill would give courts the ability to use the sample results as proof of the accused's blood alcohol content at the time of the alleged offence,
I also know that if the accused disputes those results the bill would then place the evidential burden on the accused to establish factors that affect their reliability.
It is an important initiative. It has been identified by Mothers Against Drunk Driving as one of those areas that needs attention. The member for Lakeland has taken up that challenge and brought before us a bill to do just that.
We owe him a debt of gratitude for doing that and I hope that we in the House will support such a bill and get it to committee. If fine tuning were needed, we would do that and make it a law so that we would have a further tool in our arsenal to deal with a tragic and serious problem in our society today.
I understand that Senator Marjory LeBreton has also taken up the challenge in the Senate. She of course suffered personally from an incidence of drunk driving and has had the courage to go forward, using her time as a senator, to actually effect change where she can. She has introduced a Senate bill to enhance police powers in the apprehension, gathering of evidence, and charging of impaired drivers. That is also important.
The challenge for all of us is to do what we can, wherever we can, and certainly to support the initiative by the member for Lakeland. I encourage all members to do the same.