impaired driving

R v Basque: Strange Statutory Interpretation

Section 259(1)(a) of the Criminal Code of Canada [Code] imposes a mandatory minimum; at sentencing, judges must apply a driving prohibition of at least twelve months for offenders convicted of impaired driving pursuant to this provision. Interpretation of the interaction between three provisions implies that pre-sentence driving prohibitions cannot be credited toward that minimum. The […]

SCC Refuses to Extend Random Sobriety Stop Power to Private Property: R v McColman

Driving, as a licensed activity, carries certain limitations. Perhaps most important among them is the prohibition against driving while impaired. But the law cannot reach every corner of a person’s life. At a certain point, privacy interests come into play. To be a driver in Ontario is to drive a vehicle on a “highway”—that is, […]