Mr. Legault,
Prime Minister of Quebec,
My wife and I are closely following Bill 48 amending the Road safety code. During Minister Guilbault’s announcement, we were happy to know that your government was going to take care of making Quebec’s road network even more secure.
Several renowned groups and organizations, all involved in road safety, quickly realized that one of the most important causes of road deaths was not included, namely impaired driving. If some concluded that it was a simple oversight or error, several journalists and columnists did not fail to denounce this blatant inconsistency.
It was unthinkable to them that the Coded does not resolve the issue, especially since a lowering of the permitted blood alcohol limit has already been in place for several years in all other Canadian provinces, where statistics associate it with a reduction in road deaths of more than 50%. In Quebec, lowering the rate in a similar way should not cause such big problems, so many other measures are already in place and we are only talking here about administrative sanctions starting from 50 mg per 100 ml, a rate with which more 60% of Quebecers affirmed their agreement in the Coop de l’information survey.
Petition
We submitted a petition to the National Assembly through MP Monsef Derraji; we asked for the official response from your government.
We received, as a response, a copy of a letter from Ms. Guilbault addressed to Mr. Simon Jolin-Barette, dated March 26, 2024. In this letter, Ms. Guilbault affirms that Quebec provides some of the strictest supervision of all Canada in this regard, then cites some measures:
· The driver rehabilitation program is the most comprehensive and longest in Canada;
· The imposition of a lifetime ignition interlock after the second offense related to impaired driving is unique in Canada;
· Quebec imposes a zero alcohol tolerance on new and young drivers. The penalties for this type of offense are among the most severe in Canada;
· The imposition of zero tolerance for drivers of buses, minibuses, taxis or automobiles treated as taxis;
· The limitation of 50 mg per 100 ml of blood for driving a heavy vehicle. The law provides for a 24-hour suspension in the event of an infraction.
In reality, the facts do not always agree with these assertions, which we repeat below point by point, in response to Ms. Guilbault’s letter:
· The rehabilitation program and the imposition of an ignition interlock for life after the second offense are measures put in place. Today we are asking your government to take measures in advance of future tragedies, i.e. material damage, injuries and deaths. Would you, or any other member of your cabinet, have accepted such an answer if you had lost a loved one? When possible, we must act before tragedies occur, or prevent them. You have the power, Mr. Prime Minister.
· Quebec imposes a zero alcohol tolerance on new and young drivers, which certainly points them in the right direction, but you then leave them exposed to avoidable risks by allowing them to drive impaired until 80 mg per 100 ml, knowing with supporting evidence that at 50 mg you are already more likely to have a fatal collision than on an empty stomach.
· The imposition of zero tolerance for drivers of buses, minibuses, taxis (or automobiles assimilated to a taxi) and the limit of 50 mg per 100 ml of blood for driving a heavy vehicle prove beyond doubt that such restrictions work. For these categories of drivers, since it is not possible for them to get behind the wheel under such conditions.
Also, Ms. Guilbault mentions that the annual investments in awareness by the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) are considerable, at $1.5 million, but we still have an average of 85 deaths per year, so the observation is that this awareness, although desirable in itself, is not sufficient. We also need administrative sanctions starting at 50 mg per 100 ml for all drivers, regardless of their age, experience or type of vehicle.
Roadside check
We are pleased to read that the SAAQ participates each year, with the collaboration of Sécuritéroute Québec and in partnership with police services, in concerted national operations (ONC) to combat impaired driving. Following up on several comments from concerned citizens about road safety, your government could also release more funds to increase these road checks, because a law is of no use if it is not enforced.
We followed the debates in the National Assembly on the subject of administrative sanctions from 50 mg per 100 ml and were so disappointed, overcome with a feeling of incomprehension, to see that the three opposition parties voted unanimously for the Jessica amendment and that all the deputies of your government voted against. All, without exception! You have in your ranks parents responsible for a family, who also want to see their children grow up in complete safety. I wonder what the outcome of this crucial and reasonable vote would have been if, as we believed, the party line for once had not come into play. Mr. Prime Minister, partisanship has no place when we are talking about saving human lives.
We would also like to ask a question of Mr. Simon Jolin-Barrette, whose speeches we often hear, where he specifies that all victims are important and that this is one of his priorities. Did the Minister of Justice, Mr. Jolin-Barette, forget the victims of this scourge during the vote?
We cannot go back in time and change the past, but we must as a society change the future.
Administrative sanction
With an administrative suspension program which allowed action at a blood alcohol level of 0.05% as in other provinces, the police would be able to arrest an offender if he exceeded this limit.
The police could thus apply the administrative measures at their disposal, in particular the issuance of a fine, the impounding of a vehicle, or even the suspension of the driving license. It would also help in the arrest of repeat offenders before another tragedy occurs.
The example of British Columbia.
For reference, the Canadian Center on Substance Use and Addiction published this on short-term administrative sanctions for alcohol or drug use among drivers. It can be read that:
Evaluations of the impact of the BC program found a 44% reduction in the proportion of drivers on the road at night with a blood alcohol level of at least 50 mg/dl and a reduction of 40.4% of fatal accidents involve alcohol. Alberta reported a 46 per cent decrease in alcohol-related deaths in the six months following the adoption of the new penalties.
Also, a case study carried out in March 2022 by the Association for Public Health of Quebec reports the very positive impacts of the program in BC: Penalties for a blood alcohol level while driving from 0.05.
The consequences :
In the year following the entry into force of the new British Columbia measures, a significant reduction in alcohol-related accidents was observed, i.e. a 40% reduction in fatal accidents, a 20% reduction in injuries caused by accidents and a 19.5% reduction in property damage caused by accidents. Two years after the implementation of the IRP, the reduction in alcohol-related fatalities was 52% compared to before the changes. Studies conclude that publicized provincial laws have a positive impact on preventing cases of alcohol-impaired driving.
CAA-Quebec says it is “disappointed” to note that “at a time when we aim to reduce deaths and injuries attributable to road accidents”, the bill does not address the entire issue of alcohol behind the wheel, a “scourge that destroys lives”.
Make the difference
We wouldn’t want others to have to go through a situation as horrible as the loss of a child to finally understand our approach.
On behalf of all victims injured or killed by driving while impaired by alcohol, drugs or both in Quebec, and on behalf of their families, we ask you to make a difference. We are asking you to save lives now.
Although it is difficult, decision-makers, including you, can immediately act to prevent further tragedies. If you don’t do it, who will? You are responsible for the well-being and security of citizens who trust you and count on you to have this political courage. It is up to you that your government leaves a positive political legacy, and not that Quebec remembers that you missed the historic opportunity to do what more than 60% of Quebecers authorize you to do, or even ask you to do. to do : amend the Road safety code to lower the permitted alcohol limit from 80 mg to 50 mg per 100 ml.
We compare this change of Road safety code the application of the obligation to wear seat belts in vehicles. The government in place at the time had the political courage to implement this law, which was initially criticized, but which quickly succeeded in demonstrating, with supporting figures, that it had saved a lot of people in a short time. of lives. We implore you to have the same courage.
My wife and I are requesting a meeting to clarify our request and to speak face to face with you. We invite you to come to our home, if you wish, to help you understand the void that the death of our daughter Jessica has created in our family and those around us.
Antoine Bittar & Elizabeth Rivera, parents of Jessica
