Tory, Liberal Senators join chorus opposing justice minister’s drunk-driving proposal

Senators point to an already backlogged court system that they see getting worse if the blood-alcohol threshold for criminal drunk-driving charges is lowered. But advocates say it would send a strong message and change drivers’ behaviours.

'The courts are really clogged, and to do this when there are so many other issues...I don’t think it’s necessary,' Senate Liberal Mobina Jaffer, left, has said of a proposal by Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould, right, to lower the blood-alcohol concentration at which drivers can face criminal charges. The Hill Times photograph by Jake Wright

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BY PETER MAZEREEUW

August 23, 2017

Senators across party lines, including Ottawa's former police chief, are criticizing a proposal from the federal justice minister to lower the blood-alcohol threshold for criminal drunk-driving charges, joining criminal lawyers and industry lobby groups pushing back a...

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