This blog post is an excerpt from Bench Press in the March/April 2012 issue of LawNow magazine. To view the magazine and subscribe please go to www.lawnow.org.
Justice Jon Sigurdson of the British Columbia Supreme Court has ruled that parts of B.C.’s new drunk driving law are unconstitutional.
Changes to the province’s Motor Vehicle Act introduced automatic roadside suspensions for drivers with a blood-alcohol content of .05 or higher. Vehicles can be impounded for up to 30 days and penalties of up to $4000 can be assessed. Justice Sigurdson ruled that these changes are a justifiable infringement on Charter rights. However, he took issue with drivers who “fail” a breathalyzer test by showing a blood-alcohol level of .08 or higher. For these drivers, he wrote that the law “authorizes a search by a screening device on the basis of reasonable suspicion and impose lengthy prohibitions and significant costs and penalties on motorists, without providing motorists with any meaningful basis to challenge the validity of the search results.” He ruled that this violates the Charter protection against unreasonable search and seizure, and he concluded that in these instances, the province needs to provide an appeal process.
This decision has significance beyond the B.C. border. Alberta has enacted very similar legislation and intends to proceed with its implementation despite the B.C. court ruling.
Sivia v. British Columbia (Superintendent of Motor Vehicles) 2011 BCSC 1639 (CanLII)