Provincial legislation

• Author: Nathan Baker
• Pages: 123-130

CHAPTER

9

Provincial

Legislation

With

criminal

law

being

governed

federally

in

Canada,

and

driving

and

licensing

issues

being

dealt

with

provincially,

it

is

important

to

under



stand

the

interplay

between

these

levels

of

government

In

most

cases,

the

initial

detention,

interaction,

and

investigation

of

impaired

drivers

begins

as

a

result

of

provincially

empowered

actions

by

the

police.

As

well,

different

provincial

legislatures

are

taking

different

views

as

to

the

dangers

imposed

by

drug-impaired

driving.

Although

the

tests

for

criminal

culpability

are

standard

across

the

country,

factors

such

as

lesser

amounts

of

drugs

in

a

driver

’

s

system,

age

of

the

driver,

and

what

searches

are

allowed

in

pursuing

regulatory

charges

differ

from

prov



ince

to

province.

This

chapter

reviews

the

cogent

parts

of

each

province

’

s

legislation

as

it

deals

with

drug-impaired

driving.

BRITISH

COLUMBIA

Currently,

if

an

officer

believes

that

a

driver

is

affected

by

drugs,

they

may

conduct

a

field

sobriety

test

A

failure

on

this

test

is

grounds

to

impose

a

24-hour

administrative

suspension

and

continue

with

investigation

of

a

criminal

charge

at

their

discretion.

British

Columbia

has

not

yet

introduced

any

new

legislation

to

deal

with

drug-impaired

driving

issues.

Because

BC

has

been

dealing

with

alcohol-impaired

driving

via

administrative

penalties

rather

than

the

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