Estevan, Sask. police are looking to toughen their approach to drinking and driving by taking away vehicles for repeat offenders.
Police Chief Paul Ladouceur wants to permanently seize vehicles of drivers convicted of multiple impaired driving charges.
“We’ve tried everything. We’ve tried education in the schools, education in the public, posters at local liquor establishments, we’ve tried blitzes, we’ve tried roadside checks, we’ve tried increase penalties,” Ladouceur said.
“[We’re] dealing with the same issues so obviously something isn’t working.”
Ladouceur said the different approach was spawned from an incident three weeks ago. Estevan police had arrested a man for the fourth time for impaired driving.
READ MORE: Sask. impaired driving numbers up from last year
He said these harsh penalties aren’t directed at first offenders but for drivers who have three or four offences.
“It’s not uncommon for us to arrest an impaired driver every second or third night,” Ladouceur said.
No change in legislation is required to proceed with any vehicle seizures. According to the police chief, it’s entirely legal under the criminal code.
“The Criminal Code allows for offence-related properties to be seized and we started looking at the fact that we do it all the time with drug traffickers and organized crime,” he said.
“Why aren’t we doing it with impaired driving, that’s also a criminal offence.”
Ladouceur cites a similar case out of Quebec where a vehicle was successfully seized. The ruling was upheld by the Supreme Court of Canada.
In a statement, the Ministry of Justice said:
“It is an available option under the Criminal Code but whether it should be used depends on all the circumstances of the case.”
Police wouldn’t be able to just automatically seize a person’s vehicle.
It would be on a case-by-case basis and only for repeat offenders, and then ultimately need to go before the courts for final decision.
Estevan Reacts
Around the city, reactions to the tougher approach was mixed.
“Right on. Get them off the roads. They don’t belong on the roads,” Lynn Bryson said.
Another resident was in favour of temporarily seizing vehicles, but said permanently goes too far.
“No… because then you’re paying for a vehicle right? Then you can’t drive. No, I don’t agree with that,” Scott Ferguson said.
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