WORRIED ABOUT BACKLOG, PROVINCE WON'T TEST MOTORISTS FOR DRUGS

Ontario won't immediately be testing blood, urine or saliva samples
taken from motorists suspected of driving while high, which critics
warn is stripping police of important new powers that would help them
stop impaired drivers.

The government-run centre responsible for the testing isn't accepting
any samples under new federal rules - which came into effect
Wednesday - because the province is worried it will overburden the system.

"As the projected workload will exceed current capabilities, the
Centre of Forensic Sciences will immediately discontinue acceptance
of all submissions related to the Drug Evaluation and Classification
program until the necessary capabilities are developed," said a memo
sent to Ontario Provincial Police by a top bureaucrat at the Ministry
of Community Safety and Correctional Services.

The memo, sent Monday, was circulated by the Ontario Progressive
Conservatives, who said they received it from the federal Conservatives.

The new rules - passed in February as part of the Conservatives'
crime omnibus legislation Bill C-2 - impose tougher penalties for
impaired driving and make it illegal to refuse a roadside sobriety test.

Police can also compel suspected drug-impaired drivers to give a
blood, urine or saliva sample for analysis, which drivers could
previously refuse.

The Ontario government is sending the wrong message to impaired
drivers who are getting away with a serious crime, said Margaret
Miller, national director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving Canada.

"Why was it left so late? Why is this concern just coming out now?"
she said in an interview from Shubenacadie, N.S.

"It's very unfortunate because it sends a signal out there that
impaired driving isn't a priority for them. If there was all of a
sudden a rush on sexual assault cases, would they stop doing the testing?"

If samples aren't tested, the police won't have the evidence they
need to put impaired drivers behind bars, said provincial
Conservative Garfield Dunlop.

"I think the Ontario government has dropped the ball on this badly,"
he said from Midland, Ont.

"They should have identified this a long time ago, back in early
March or April, and said we wouldn't be able to handle it at that time."

The OPP already has officers who can administer the tests but others
are still being trained, said spokesman Sergeant Pierre Chamberland.

He would not speculate on how the move will affect potential
prosecutions of drug-impaired drivers.

"It's a work in progress and eventually everything will fall into
place and it will just become a standard practice that we incorporate
in everyday policing," he said.

The Centre for Forensic Sciences will still accept samples in
"serious" cases, said Laura Blondeau, a spokeswoman for Minister of
Community Safety and Correctional Services Rick Bartolucci.

"We fully support Bill C-2, but police need specific training and
equipment to fully implement that legislation, so this has financial
and human resource implications for the province," she said.

"We're hoping that the feds will support these efforts with
appropriate funding."

Ottawa hasn't allocated "one cent" to implement new provisions under
Bill C-2, which Ontario estimates will cost nearly $18-million over
the next four years, Ms. Blondeau said. The lion's share is needed by
the testing centre for more staff, training and equipment.

The province notified Ottawa last November that it would need at
least 18 months to prepare to implement the new rules, because of
"significant operational, capacity and resources challenges," she said.

Quebec also indicated that it faced similar challenges because it
also has its own provincial police force, she said.

Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said he is disappointed that the
province has suspended testing, which will "diminish the safety of
Ontarians," said spokesman Darren Eke.