Quebec is facing renewed pressure to tighten its drunk-driving rules. This is the only province where .08 remains the blood-alcohol limit for drivers to face penalties, whereas in the rest of Canada it’s .05 or less.
Now the families of people killed in drunk driving crashes have launched a new campaign as the holiday season approaches.
Elizabeth Rivera and her husband Antoine Bittar were fast asleep on a March night in 2017 when police rang their doorbell with the worst news a parent could get.
“I knew at that moment that she was dead. They didn’t have to say it,” said Bittar.
Their 27-year-old daughter Jessica was killed in an impaired driving crash. The three other people in the car survived, including the driver who had consumed drugs and alcohol.
“She had a beautiful smile and a beautiful sense of humour that we miss dearly,” Rivera said of her daughter.
The parents got heavily involved in Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) after their daughter’s death. Rivera is now MADD Montreal’s president, and Bittar is a board member. They were on hand for the moving launch of the organization’s latest red ribbon campaign, designed to raise awareness as we move toward the holiday season.
“We’re not against alcohol 100 per cent. You can drink whatever you want, but don’t take the car, don’t drive,” said Rivera.
The launch took place at a Dorval community centre, where the city’s mayor was on hand.
“We have made inroads regarding drunk driving. However, we must not let our guard down as we face new challenges today,” said Marc Doret.
The launch held immense meaning for those who attended, many of whom had lost a loved one to impaired driving.
MADD Montreal co-founder James Lawler spoke of his mother being killed in 1994.
“I want a time machine because sometimes I just want to go back,” he said, quoting from a poem he had written about her.
They came together to pay tribute, but also to demand change.
“We still don’t understand why Quebec is the only province who doesn’t have administrative sanctions at .05 instead of .08,” said Bittar.
In all other provinces you can get a ticket or your car seized for driving at a blood-alcohol level of 0.05, but here the threshold remains 0.08.
“We participate in roadblocks with the police,” said Rivera. “They stop people at 0.06 or 0.07. You have to let them go, but they are drunk.”
Last month a Quebec coroner called on the government to make the change to the provincial Highway Safety Code in his report on an impaired driving death. The government, however, does not consider it a priority.
“A review of the alcohol limit permitted while driving is not foreseen by our government,” said an email statement from the office of transport minister Genevieve Guilbault.
Elizabeth Rivera said she has trouble understanding the government’s stance.
“I think for some people, it really has to happen to them for them to understand,” she said.
They plan to keep fighting in the name of their daughter, and countless others.
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