October 19, 2006

Territories performances vary greatly in MADD Canada’s
Rating the Provinces and Territories:  The 2006 Report Card

Edmonton, Alberta -- Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Canada released its comprehensive study on provincial and territorial impaired driving laws today. Of the thirteen jurisdictions across Canada, the Territories’ grades for effective impaired driving laws varied greatly: Northwest Territories were lauded for its B- grade, ranking 6th; Yukon received a grade of C+, ranking 7th; and Nunavut has the dubious distinction of ranking last with a failing grade of F.

In the document Rating the Provinces and Territories: The 2006 Report Card, MADD Canada presents five core elements as being essential in provincial and territorial efforts to reduce impaired driving:

• a comprehensive graduated licensing program for all new drivers, including express police powers to enforce it;
• a .00% BAC limit for all drivers under 21 or with less than five years driving experience;
• express police powers to stop vehicles, establish sobriety checkpoints, and demand field sobriety testing from suspected alcohol and/or drug impaired drivers;
• strengthening the existing short-term roadside licence suspension programs for drivers with BACs of .05% or higher, to include a 7-14 day licence suspension, a $150–$300 licence reinstatement fee, the recording of the suspension on the driver’s record, and mandatory remedial measures for repeat violations; and
• mandatory alcohol interlock, vehicle impoundment and forfeiture, and remedial programs.

Louise Knox, MADD Canada’s Western Chapters Manager comments, “We hope that with this comparative study every jurisdiction will take a good look around at the many examples of good impaired driving legislation in Canada. We want governments to focus on our country’s best practices and move to enact legislation that has worked elsewhere in Canada.”

The Province of Manitoba scored the highest grade in the study with an A -.   Manitoba was lauded for its introduction of new legislative reforms including a five-year, zero-BAC for new drivers. 

Full details of RTP 2006, including a podcast interview with study co-author Professor Robert Solomon can be found on www.madd.ca.

For more information, visit www.madd.ca, or call:

Louise Knox, MADD Canada’s Western Chapters Manager
1-866-900-6233, ext. 222

Andrew Murie, MADD Canada’s CEO
1-800-665-6233, ext. 224

Also see:

For a complete listing of media releases and resource documents, see the Rating the Provinces web page.