B.C. woman unable to provide breath sample challenges legality of impaired-driving law

VICTORIA — A Victoria woman is launching what’s likely to be the first constitutional challenge to changes in Canada’s impaired-driving laws.

On Feb. 14, a police officer watched her come out of the liquor store at Hillside Centre at about 9:35 a.m. with a bag.McLeod was unable to provide a proper sample because of the prosthesis and her inability to produce enough breath. Under the revised legislation, a driver who refuses or, like McLeod, fails to provide a breath sample, faces a potential criminal charge with penalties similar to an impaired-driving conviction.

“Under the new law, police can detain you with no grounds. While you are unlawfully detained, your right to call a lawyer is denied. Asking you to provide a breath sample is a warrantless search, which violates your right to be free from an unreasonable search,” Teryn said. On her fourth attempt, McLeod told him she had cancer and had a prosthetic on the roof of her mouth. She said the officer told her: ‘You’re talking and breathing OK, so you can do it.’ He said he didn’t think I was trying. My thought was: ‘Who wants to fail this test?’ It wasn’t me.”“I asked: ‘What happens if I fail this one? He said: ‘Your car is impounded for 30 days and you lose your licence for 90.’ I thought: ‘No, I didn’t want that.’ So I did the best I could for the last three attempts.

“She appeared to be unaware that McLeod had come from a liquor store and not Thrifty Foods,” the officer wrote. Their next stop was the Driver Licensing Office on McKenzie Avenue in Saanich, where McLeod paid $100 to file an appeal. “The only time I have seen my eyes red is after a shower. The odd time if they are itchy and then I use .”

Good luck in court. The law is too invasive. Is this a democratic country?

She doesn’t breathe? 🙄

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