Justice committee  I would think, yes. We work in our committee with the provinces on the Criminal Code provisions and what's causing difficulties, and it seems that every few months something new pops up in the courts. If we were able to eliminate some of the technical defences that do not address the central issues--were you driving, were you over 80--I would imagine that would have an effect upon the enthusiasm of the police to lay charges.

Justice committee  As I said, some witnesses argued that the Criminal Code should immediately allow for this, if that is what the province wanted. Furthermore, in keeping with what the provinces wanted, Bill C-2 aimed to bring in a certain degree of harmonization. In the past, the order had to come from the judge.

Justice committee  Are you referring to the 0.05?

Justice committee  Okay. Again, it's CCMTA that keeps track of what's happening in all the provinces. To my knowledge, no province has yet adopted the CCMTA's model program, which has a seven-day, if I recall correctly, suspension for the first time. But I do know that British Columbia, Ontario, and Nova Scotia have, over the past year, announced changes.

Justice committee  If you're asking whether there is reason for optimism, well, with respect to Quebec's not being in it, it was proposed by the government that was re-elected with a majority, so perhaps it's back on their agenda. I don't know. Over the years, with respect to young drivers and the zero tolerance, if I can put it that way, for young drivers with alcohol, that took a few years, but I do believe it's now universal.

Justice committee  Yes and no. The territories are always invited. We certainly try to accommodate them by teleconference, but travelling expenses do keep their personal participation in a number of these meetings down.

Justice committee  I don't know whether the resources are a problem or not. I mentioned in our remarks that to have an effect on impaired driving, the laws are one part. The level of enforcement is clearly a significant part. There is some concern that has been expressed in the past that some of the provinces are using the short 0.05 suspension even when the person is well over 0.08.

Justice committee  I will try to answer your questions. I can't say exactly what the repercussions of administrative license suspension are, since the nine provinces that do issue suspensions follow somewhat different rules. British Columbia has just announced a series of tougher measures. If memory serves me well, a person who has his license suspended will be required to see a therapist if charged with an offence more than twice in five years.

Justice committee  Not to my knowledge. You were asking if anyone had done any studies on the effects of license suspension. I do not believe that our department has done a study like this. Several studies have been conducted over the years. Virtually all of them show that the majority of drivers want to keep their licenses at all costs.

Justice committee  I would like to speak to that. Definitely the engagement of the provincial attorneys general is essential. I don't think it's any secret in this committee that Mr. Pruden and I are members of a CCSO working group on impaired driving, which has representatives from all the provinces.

Justice committee  Should we say that he considered the speed limit more a guideline than a fixed amount? The first thing the police officer did was pull out the ASD and make him blow into it. He blew zero at that stage, but he was pulled over and that's the way they handle it. We are not the experts on what kind of effect that would have.

Justice committee  That preamble would perhaps underline the seriousness of impaired driving and the necessity to establish a simple and effective way of determining a person's BAC. Back in my office I have a stack this high of legislation from around the world, many of which have preambles outlining why the legislation is being passed and so on.

Justice committee  Mr. Chairman and members of the standing committee, Mr. Pruden and I are pleased to be invited again to discuss impaired driving issues with you. I believe the clerk has distributed a Department of Justice paper entitled “Impaired Driving Issues”, which was prepared by Mr. Pruden and me.

Justice committee  I'll take a shot at that, just quickly. First of all, of course, it's the provinces that operate the drug courts. We have been subsidizing them, helping them to set them up, but it's provincial administration.

Justice committee  Yes, we do that, but this sounds a bit like the American driving-while-impaired courts, where they put together the people who can be helped with rehabilitation, etc. In Oklahoma, if you're over 0.08 you are required to spend 28 days in treatment. That is a requirement under their law.