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A law firm in London, Ontario is challenging changes recently made to Canada’s drunk driving laws.

The government ratified new legislation in mid-December that, in part, gave police the power to demand a breath sample of any driver they pull over.

On April 10, Millars Law announced it was retained to fight the constitutional legality of the new law in a case that may end up leading to a Charter of Rights and Freedoms challenge.

The challenge stemmed from an incident in Sarnia: Lawyer Nick Cake says that OPP pulled over a driver for a “peeling” licence plate a few days after the new law came into effect.

The officer explained to the driver the new laws, had the appropriate screening device on him, and without any reasonable suspicion at all, got the driver to blow. The test failed and the driver was subsequently charged with impaired operation.

If an officer has reasonable suspicion a driver is impaired, they should go through the proper procedures, Cake stresses. But that wasn’t the case here.

He explained, “You have to at least have some suspicion that something is going wrong before you can take a citizen and demand that they produce evidence against themselves.”

Cake says this is only the beginning of the potentially lengthy process. If he and his client lose the initial trial, they plan to appeal, and he imagines if they are successful, the Crown Attorney’s office would also appeal.


Source: Global News