Police chiefs ‘in discussion’ with Ford government over impaired driving downgrades
Global News
The policy meant that suspected impaired drivers without aggravating factors like causing bodily harm could plead guilty to non-criminal Highway Traffic Act offences.
Ontario’s police chiefs are “in discussions” with the Ford government over a pandemic-era policy that gives suspected drunk drivers the ability to downgrade their charges and avoid a criminal record.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Ontario’s attorney general issued a new directive to crown prosecutors to offer plea bargains in non-serious drunk driving cases as a way of cutting the caseload in Ontario’s criminal justice system.
The policy meant suspected impaired drivers without aggravating factors, such as causing bodily harm, could plead guilty to non-criminal Highway Traffic Act offences to avoid a criminal trial and potential conviction.
All other pandemic restrictions have been lifted, but the option to downgrade drunk driving charges in Ontario remains.
The government said it has kept the policy in place because court backlogs continue. Diverting the least serious impaired incidents away from the criminal justice system allows Crown attorneys to focus on violent crimes and sexual assault, according to the province.
The effectiveness of the measure, however, has been under discussion with Ontario’s police chiefs since the start of the pandemic. The Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police initiated conversations with the Ford government about “ensuring the delivery of justice for all those involved in these types of cases” in 2020.
“We have been regularly discussing issues related to the effective management of legal cases involving impaired driving,” a spokesperson told Global News in an email. “We are in discussions with the Ministry of the Attorney General on this matter. As these discussions are ongoing, we’re not in a position to address the issue,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson did not elaborate on the association’s position or what measures it would like to see removed or kept in place.
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