MADD APPLAUDS EFFORTS TO FIGHT DRUGGED DRIVING

KITCHENER, ONT. -- The chief executive of Mothers Against Drunk
Driving is fearful that legislation promised yesterday to combat
drugged drivers will not be passed into law before the Conservative
minority falls.

Previous bills aimed at stopping drivers impaired by drugs died along
with the Liberal governments that introduced them.

But Andrew Murie said he is glad to see Prime Minister Stephen Harper
going back at the problem that his group says claims many lives,
particularly among young people. "I feel very strongly that we need
to get this through this time," Mr. Murie said after the Prime
Minister announced that his government would give the police the
power to arrest and test people they suspect of driving while under
the influence of drugs.

"Just as governments once took action on drunk driving, we must act
today on drug-impaired driving," the Prime Minister said at a news
conference attended by people who have lost friends and family
members to the actions of intoxicated drivers.

He said legislation to be introduced in two weeks will, among other
things, "provide police with more tools to detect drug-impaired
drivers, increase penalties for drug-impaired driving, strengthen
presumptions for breath and blood tests and promote awareness about
drug-impaired driving with partners like MADD."

Mr. Murie, who has seen the new legislation, said it will give police
officers the power to act when they suspect someone of driving while
drug-impaired.

That includes requiring a suspect to provide a sample of bodily
fluids for testing. And it includes the resources to educate officers
about how to determine whether a person is drug impaired and to
ascertain what kinds of drugs an individual has taken.

The Liberals pointed out yesterday that the Conservatives cut
$4.6-million from the training budget of the RCMP's Drug Impaired
Driving Program as part of $1-billion in cuts announced in September.

Brian Murphy, associate justice critic for the Liberals, said in a
news release that his party supports efforts aimed at drugged drivers.

"But this Prime Minister needs to explain to Canadians why he made
such significant cuts to the RCMP, scrapping a training program that
helped officers detect drivers who are under the influence of
narcotics," Mr. Murphy said.

Mr. Harper told the news conference that there were no plans to
reinstate that program.

"We want to make sure, obviously, that the resources we spend go into
programs that are effective," Mr. Harper said. "Our evaluation was
that that program was not effective, so obviously we are looking at
better ways of addressing the problem."

During the news conference, the Prime Minister introduced Doug and
Barb Rider whose 16-year-old son David was killed seven years ago
near Perth, Ont., along with four other teens in a crash that
occurred after the driver had smoked marijuana. Six others were
injured, some permanently.

"When our son was lost, most of us didn't know that you could be
impaired under drugs. It wasn't something we really thought about,"
Mr. Rider said.

While the government is taking action on drugged driving, Mr. Murie
said he will also be pressing for more measures against drunk driving.

MADD is talking to MPs, especially Justice Minister Vic Toews, about
preventing people who have been charged with drunk driving from
presenting testimonial evidence that puts doubts in judges' minds.

The group will also continue to lobby for the right of police to test
every driver who has been involved in an accident to see if they have
been drinking.

"We certainly are not getting deaf ears or hearing from the
government that these are not possibilities," said Mr. Murie after
emerging from a meeting with Mr. Harper.

"Impaired is still the No. 1 criminal cause of death and until that
is dealt with, we will be quite aggressive in our approach."