TORIES INTRODUCE DRUGGED DRIVING BILL

Ottawa (CP) - 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 Tuesday 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. 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.