Today, MP Alain Rayes introduced Bill S-230 in the House of Commons, which would allow the use of drug detection devices by law enforcement agencies.
Accompanied by Senator Claude Carignan, the Leader of the Official Opposition in the Senate and sponsor of the Bill, and Nancy Roy, Director General of the Murdered or Missing Persons Families Association, the Conservative MP reiterated the importance of modernizing the Criminal Code to make drug detection devices similar to breathalyzers available to police officers to detect the presence of drugs in impaired drivers. The use of these tools is not possible under the current legislation.
Drug-impaired driving is already a scourge on the roads across Canada. With the Liberals promise to legalize marijuana, it is even more urgent to give police officers the tools they need to identify intoxicated drivers, which is the goal of this Bill, said the MP.
As for Senator Carignan, he is pleased to see that his Bill going forward swiftly and could become law before the end of the current session. He believes that the use of drug detection devices is long overdue.
Canada is lagging behind the many countries that use drug detection devices on the roads, such as Australia, Germany, France, Belgium, Spain, Italy and United Kingdom, as well as some US states. Bill S-230 aims to better protect Canadians and their families, to deter drivers from getting behind the wheel after consuming drugs, and to give police officers effective tools to detect impaired driving before accidents, injuries and deaths occur, he said.
Nancy Roy, Director General of the Murdered or Missing Persons Families Association, said:
The impacts on families and victims of road accidents due to impaired driving are disastrous. This is why the Murdered or Missing Persons Families Association supports all measures for a greater legal coercion regarding alcohol and drugs.
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Senator Carignan submitted written questions last December to the Senateabout his concerns with legalization, includinghospitalization associated to marijuana; treatment programs; awareness programs; and injuries caused by marijuana-impaired driving.
The Conservatives have traditionally opposed legalization and continue to press the government on their plans to legalize. Its likely that these sorts of questions in the Senate will only increase as the issue moves to the front burner in 2017. Pressuring the Liberal Government on the issue will likely be an important political wedge for the Conservatives and even the NDP in the upcoming election.
Carignan, who is bringing the issue up Tuesday, is the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate of Canada, appointed to the Senate in 2009 by then-prime minister Stephen Harper.
He recently said without a doubt, the biggest public policy issue facing Canada is the legalization of marijuana. It will have enormous consequences at every level and it is an issue we must follow very closely.
Replies to written questions are not always answered. When Questions on the Order Paper is called, a Parliamentary Secretary, usually the Parliamentary Secretary ...
