Police launch Mandatory Alcohol Screening program in Halifax area
An initiative called the Mandatory Alcohol Screening (MAS) program is designed to cut down on the number of drunk drivers on the road in the Halifax area.
“Unfortunately we have impaired drivers driving around right now. I got one this morning,” says Cst. Scott Aldridge of the Southeast RCMP traffic Services.
Canadian Parliament approved MAS in 2018. It allows officers to request a breath sample from drivers during a traffic stop for a motor vehicle infraction. Police are not permitted to pull someone over for the sole purpose of completing a MAS test.
“Drivers have to provide a sample of their breath to police upon demand without a suspicion. Prior to that we had a very low threshold, but we had to form the suspicion that they had beverage alcohol in their body,” Cst. Aldridge says.
The measures might not sit well with some
“The one underlying problem with this is, one could argue that it would violate the constitutional right especially in the Charter, section 8, of unreasonable search and seizure,” says Michael Boudreau, a criminology professor at St. Thomas University.
Boudreau says groups like the Canadian Civil Liberties Association will be paying close attention to how the program unfolds.
“Police obviously have the right to use their discretion, but sometimes critics have argued that that discretion has been used against or to target groups from say racialized communities,” Boudreau says. “Will this be another example of the police using their discretion to unfairly target certain groups who they think might be under the influence of alcohol?
“It will be interesting going forward to see the numbers on who is stopped. We’re going to have to keep close tabs on the numbers.”
Similar efforts are happening in Ontario and Saskatchewan
Cpl. Aldridge says refusing the breathalyzer is the same as blowing over and the driver will be arrested and charged.
The Mandatory Alcohol Screening program will run during May.
For more Nova Scotia news visit our dedicated provincial page.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Trump confronts repeated boos during raucous Libertarian convention speech
Donald Trump was booed repeatedly while addressing Saturday night’s Libertarian Party National Convention.
This type of screen time has the worst effect on kids: experts
According to some experts, there is one type of screen time that is continuously excessive, and it's having a severe effect on our children.
Family of toddler found dead at small-town Ont. daycare no closer to answers after year of investigation
A year has passed since two-year-old Vienna Irwin was found on the property of a home-based daycare in small-town Ontario, but her family says they are no closer to answers of what happened that day.
Grayson Murray, two-time PGA Tour winner, dead at 30
Two-time PGA Tour winner Grayson Murray died Saturday morning at age 30, one day after he withdrew from the Charles Schwab Cup Challenge at Colonial.
Humboldt Broncos crash victims and families react to decision to deport truck driver
The family of one of the victims of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash in 2018 says they are 'thankful' for a decision by a Calgary immigration board to deport the driver of the truck involved.
Fatal plane crash reported near Squamish, B.C.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has confirmed it is working with local Mounties and the BC Coroners Service after a plane crash near Squamish, B.C. Friday night.
'God forgives but we don’t': Loud outburst from stabbing victim’s family during sentencing hearing
An emotional outburst in a London, Ont. courtroom Friday disrupted the sentencing hearing of a woman who pleaded guilty for her part in the death of 29-year-old Mohammed Abdallah.
Three dead after vehicle plunged down a 100-foot embankment in Shediac, N.B.
Three people have died after a vehicle veered off the road in Shediac N.B., Friday morning.
Appeal denied for Edmonton soldier accused of trying to kill her 3 children
An Edmonton woman found guilty of trying to kill her three children has been denied an appeal.