Happy Canada Day everyone! Don’t start celebrating, however, because Governments are busy trying to take away your legal rights. As of today Alberta’s new DUI laws come into effect with respect to their new indefinite license suspension program. If you are in Alberta the punishment starts right away for those who are innocent as well as those who are guilty.
Emboldened by the scheming BC Government, the Alberta Government came up with their own plan to do an end-run around the Criminal Code while denying all along that this is what’s happening. Here’s what everyone should know:
If you are charged with a criminal offence in Canada, you are entitled to be presumed innocent. At your trial the evidence may establish beyond a reasonable doubt that you are guilty. But you are entitled to be treated as though you are innocent from the start and not to be punished before your trial.
This is sometimes referred to as the golden thread that runs though our system of justice, i.e. that you are entitled to the presumption of innocence. The concept goes back to ancient Rome where it was accepted that the accuser must prove the case, and the accused should be assumed innocent until such time as the evidence is presented that supports the accusation.
Sadly, like many societies we lost our way. The root of the problem is that many elected officials are lacking the requisite historical knowledge to understand their role and the damage that they are doing to the justice system. But we digress. What is the effect of Alberta’s new DUI laws?
As mentioned, in criminal courts you are entitled to the presumption of innocence. The Alberta Government doesn’t get to write criminal law — that is the job of those people in Ottawa, and although it is not their job, the politicians in Alberta have decided to try and write some law with respect to criminal procedure. Specifically, they want people who are charged with anything resembling a drinking and driving offence to lose the presumption of innocence and be punished immediately. The new law will mean that, if accused, you will lose your license until the case is dealt with in court. You will be presumed guilty until such time as you prove your innocence.
The prohibition starts immediately regardless of the quality of the evidence or the facts of the case. The police, when they make the decision to lay a charge of impaired driving, refusing a breath or ASD sample, driving over .08%, or care and control over .08%, then issue the accused an immediate indefinite suspension. It stays in place until the matter is resolved in court.
What this amounts to is a bail condition to not drive. When you are arrested for most criminal charges you are entitled to be released from police custody and to go about your way unhindered by the allegation, aside from your obligation to speak to the allegation in court. If there is a reason to bind you by some conditions, the police or court may do so in certain situations. For example, if the allegation is that you threatened a former lover, then the condition may be that you not contact them.
On a rare occasion, where a person has a history of drinking and driving, they may be released with the condition that they not drive. The purpose is not to punish the individual, as they are entitled to the presumption of innocence, but to protect the public. This is a condition that almost never arises with first time allegations because there is little or nothing to suggest that such a condition is necessary to protect the public.
Alberta’s new DUI laws implement an automatic bail condition that then prohibits the accused from driving, regardless of their driving history, from the very moment of their release from police custody.
This is a violation of the presumption of innocence purportedly guaranteed by section 11(d) of the Charter of Rights. It is also outside of the jurisdiction of a province as criminal law is the purview of the federal government.
Our advice to Albertans is to move to Saskatchewan. You are not safe from your Government. If you decide to remain, contact a criminal lawyer and ask how you can help to strike down this law.