OTTAWA PLANS CRACKDOWN ON DRUG-IMPAIRED DRIVERS

Ottawa - The federal Conservatives have brought in legislation to
crack down on drug-impaired drivers - by resurrecting a plan first
advanced by the Liberals, adding heavier fines and jail terms, and
calling the result a Tory initiative.

The bill, tabled yesterday by Justice Minister Vic Toews, would also
tighten laws against driving under the influence of alcohol, changing
the rules of evidence to make it harder to challenge breathalyzer
tests in court.

The main focus, however, is on those who get behind the wheel while
high on marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine or a variety of other drugs.

"I can't seriously see people [being] opposed to this type of
legislation," said Toews, noting that similar measures are already in
force in many American states.

"There is no reason why Canadians shouldn't be protected in the same way."

Opposition MPs insisted they need time to study the bill. And some
predicted parts of it could be struck down by the courts as a
violation of the Charter of Rights.

The legislation had been trumpeted in advance by Prime Minister
Stephen Harper as another step in a broader Conservative law-and-order agenda.

Toews picked up the theme, posing for pictures outside the Commons
with police, the lobby group Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and a
family whose son was killed by a drug-impaired driver. All expressed
support for the bill.

But Toews admitted, when pressed by reporters, that the core of his
legislation - setting out the legal steps police must follow to prove
drug impairment - is taken straight from a bill proposed by the
previous Liberal government.

"In that respect, it's essentially the same," said the minister.

He went on, however, to point to areas where the Tories had
"enhanced" the Liberal approach - mainly by boosting the penalties
upon conviction.

Under the new bill, the minimum fine for a first offence of either
drug-or alcohol-impaired driving would be $1,000 rather than the
current $600. A second offence would bring a mandatory 30 days in
jail rather than 14, a third offence 120 days rather than 90.

In the worst cases, the maximum sentence would be life in prison for
impaired driving causing death and 10 years for causing bodily harm.

Driving while intoxicated by any substance has long been illegal. But
there is no reliable roadside test for drug impairment to match the
breath test that measures alcohol levels.

The Tory legislation follows the Liberal model in setting standards
that police must observe in assessing drug impairment, starting with
a roadside test of the familiar touch-your-nose or walk-the-line variety.