Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement I was talking about alcohol ignition interlock devices. The Motor Vehicles Act was amended in 2003. I would like to ask the Minister of Transportation is there any provision in legislation or regulation for a judge to order that a person can have their driver’s licence reinstated once an alcohol ignition interlock device is installed in their vehicle. Thank you.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. Michael McLeod.
Mr. Speaker, I don’t believe we have any legislation that will allow a judge to order an ignition interlock on vehicles at this point. Thank you.
As I said in my Member’s statement, I don’t condone people drinking and driving, but these devices must have some merit, because it seems like it is possible for those to be ordered in other jurisdictions. Was it ever the intention of the Department of Transportation to create a regulation in concert with the Motor Vehicles Act that would have seen such a device as an alternate to a person’s licence being completely suspended? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, we haven’t considered amendments to the legislation as of yet and it may be a challenge to do so as we have conditions that other jurisdictions don’t have. We have minus 40 below weather and this could be a real challenge with the equipment. We don’t have licensed mechanics to install this device on vehicles in all our communities and any time there’s a malfunction, this would be an issue. At this point we’re looking at it. We don’t have all the answers and we’re not considering it until we can have further research on how it would work. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I’d like to ask the Minister is this something that would have to be changed in legislation or is this something that might have already been contemplated in legislation in some form and it could be done by a regulation, which would be much less onerous. Thank you.
I’d have to confirm, but I believe it would require changing the Motor Vehicles Act. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Your final supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Is this something that the Minister would consider pursuing? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, we are looking at it already. We have looked at the device and try to see if it would work in the conditions that we live in. At this point, we are not convinced it will work. However, we will study options, if not this particular device, then maybe there are other things out there that could work to allow certain individuals to keep their jobs or whatever the case may be. We will continue to monitor. We will continue to research it and share the information with the Member. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.
