BY ALEX P. VIDAL/December 9, 2011
EDMONTON, Alberta — In Canada, it’s the system that works, not power and influence wield by big shots and prominent politicians like in the Philippines and other Asian countries.
The biggest story in this Canadian city here today should inspire law enforcers in the Philippines and teach them to enforce the law without fear and favor.
For violating the law — or for having been accused of violating the traffic law — Edmonton MP Peter Goldring has voluntarily withdrawn from caucus after he was charged with refusing to take a breathalyzer test early Sunday following a fundraiser at the Ukrainian Youth Unity Complex in north Edmonton.
“Our government takes drinking and driving very seriously,” Edmonton Journal quoted Sara MacIntyre, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s press secretary as saying.
She couldn’t comment further while the case is before court, except to say Goldring, 66, has withdrawn until charges are resolved, reported the Journal which has not received return call from Goldring as of this writing.
BREATH SAMPLE
Edmonton police spokesman Chad Orydzuk reported that Goldring was charged with refusing to provide a breath sample using the roadside screening test. Orydzuk said police pulled over the car near 95th Street and 153rd Avenue about 12:30 a.m. Dec. 4, three blocks from where Goldring held his annual constituency fundraising dinner at the Ukrainian Youth Association near 97th Street and 153rd Avenue.
Report said more than 100 people attended the Saturday night dinner, which featured a roast beef and perogy dinner along with a silent auction and a cash bar.
Edmonton-Castle Downs MLA Thomas Lukaszuk was the keynote speaker and sat at the same table as Goldring. He declined to say whether he saw Goldring drinking or whether the MP was intoxicated.
“I’m not qualified to judge that,” Lukaszuk said, adding he was talking to constituents for much of the evening.
The patrol that pulled Goldring over was in support of a broader Checkstop program, which wrapped up before individual police units spread out to do roving checks.
“They’re tasked with identifying and arresting suspected impaired drivers,” Orydzuk said. He couldn’t say if Goldring’s vehicle was seized, which is only done when safety is a concern. Someone drove Goldring home, Orydzuk said, since the charge brings an immediate 24-hour licence suspension, followed by a 21-day grace period and then a three-month licence suspension.
FINE
If convicted, Goldring faces a minimum $1,000 fine, up to five years in prison and potential restrictions on driving.
University of Alberta law professor Steven Penney said the charges of refusing a breath demand and that of impaired driving are “of equal seriousness.”
Under the Criminal Code, both charges carry the same penalties, including a driving suspension and fine.
Penney said refusal charges are actually easier for the Crown to prove than impaired charges, and aren’t often taken to trial.
“We don’t see them challenged very often, except when there is a charter argument that the police did not have the proper grounds to demand a sample,” he said.
Goldring has been a member of Parliament since 1997. In 2009, Goldring opposed proposed legislation changes that would allow police to screen all drivers with roadside breathalyzer tests, whether or not officers suspected the drivers had been drinking.
“It is safe to say everyone is opposed to drunk driving — but there are civil liberty issues involved,” Goldring posted in an article on his website at the time. “There is the presumption of innocence and the right to not self incriminate.”
Leila Moulder, president of the Mothers Against Drunk Driving Edmonton chapter, said she was surprised to hear about the charge.
DISAPPOINTMENT
“It comes as a huge disappointment especially in light of the new legislation that’s around and all the buzz in the media right now, just to have this as one more challenge that we’re faced with,” Moulder said, making reference to proposed legislation under Premier Alison Redford to suspend the licences of motorists charged with having more than .08 blood alcohol content. Drivers who blow between .05 to .08 blood alcohol content will also face tougher sanctions.
“It’s unnerving, especially when somebody is in an elected position, a position of authority in the public eye,” Moulder said. “You need to have that greater responsibility and there was a lack of such responsibility in this issue.”
New Democratic Party MP Linda Duncan said Goldring has set a poor example.
“It’s disturbing in a number of areas,” the MP for Edmonton-Strathcona said.
“Of course, everyone in Alberta’s aware of the government pushing for stricter standards for impaired driving. So one would think elected officials would set a higher standard. Coming from a youth event? That’s pretty incredible.”
Duncan said the incident exposes the tough-on-crime federal government “for the hypocrites they are,” and noted that one Edmonton volunteer organization has in the past asked MPs to help drive intoxicated people on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.
“This is the opposite of what we should be doing as elected officials,” she said of Goldring’s alleged actions on the day of the incident.
She also said it was “pretty reprehensible” that Goldring, in 2009, wrote that he was concerned about the risk to civil liberties of a proposal by Mothers Against Drunk Driving to require drivers to provide breath samples even if there is no grounds for suspicion.
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