More can be done to change drinking and driving culture in Saskatchewan: Opposition

Saskatchewan's Opposition says the government can do more to change the culture around drinking and driving in the province, by following the lead of other provinces which have had success.

NDP MLA Danielle Chartier argued for tougher sanctions for impaired drivers three years ago, but saidthe government refused to implement them.

"One of the things we did hear about deterrents in particular is that they have to be swift, certain and severe for something to work," Chartier said.

Chartier was one of two Opposition MLAs on an all-party committee which studied traffic laws in 2013.

• MADD urges Sask. premier to take impaired driving problem 'more seriously'

They wrote a minority opinion at the time, accusing the government MLAs on the committee of dismissing "an important life-saving recommendation" outlined during the hearings.

Impounding vehicles

In B.C., all first-time offenders who are caught driving with a blood alcohol concentration in the warning range in that province, greater than 0.05 blood alcohol concentration (BAC) or above have their vehicles impounded for three days.

In Saskatchewan, drivers in the same situation lose their licence but not their car.

Chartier saidthe evidence shows that taking someone's car has a much bigger effect than suspending their licence.

"You can go home and nobody has to know that your licence was suspended for a day or three days or however long it was, but it's pretty hard to hide a vehicle seizure," Chartier said.

WendellWaldronofMADDwouldlike to seevehicle seizures after a first offence.Hewould also like to seeincreased licence suspension for DUI offences and more resources for police to conduct stop checks.

"Right now, SGI is waiting for five years toimplementprograms that are working clearly in Alberta, B.C.and Ontario.There's no better time to deal with this issue than right now," Waldrontold CBC last week.

Fatalities drop in B.C.

Two years after B.C. began impounding vehicles, fatalities involving alcohol had dropped by 50 per cent.

Chartier saidshe doesn't know why government MLAs were not convinced by those statistics.

"It was incredibly frustrating for me. It seemed very clear and obvious that this was one thing that we could do. And again, there's no quick fix, there's no one policy but I didn't understand why they so stubbornly refused to go there when we were hearing about positive results in two other provinces," Chartier said.

The government saysit has toughened up other laws when it comes to drinking and driving, including impounding vehicles on an experienced's drivers second time above 0.04 BAC.

The premier says he has asked for other options to further crack down on drinking and driving.

Chartier recommends he start with some of the options the government rejected in 2013.

'We have a serious problem'

On Saturday, Wall took to Facebook to comment on the province's "serious problem" with drinking and driving.

He saiddespite the government strengthening penalties with drinking and driving in the past,he wants the ministers for justice and SGI to consider further changes.

Wall saidhe's asked the ministers responsibleto have additional measures ready for consideration when the Legislature reconvenes next month.

He's also asked the public for their suggestions.