OPP starts mandatory alcohol screening at all Waterloo Region traffic stops

All traffic stops to include alcohol screening Drivers pulled over on Waterloo Region highways should now be prepared to give a breath sample. CTV’s Krista Simpson has the details.

Be prepared to provide a breath sample if you’re stopped by OPP on a Waterloo Region highway.

On Thursday, OPP announced officers are now conducting Mandatory Alcohol Screening (MAS) during every traffic stop in the Greater Toronto Area.

The project includes Waterloo Region highways that are patrolled by the OPP’s Cambridge detachment, including Highway 7/8, Highway 85 and Highway 401, Sgt. Kerry Schmidt confirmed.

The OPP is calling the initiative its “toughest measures yet to reduce impaired driving.”

According to the force, impaired driving collisions and charges are up nearly 30 per cent compared to the previous five-year average.

Schmidt says it’s not always obvious when a driver has been drinking

“We've seen impaired drivers with not a lot of … breath smells out in the wind and the weather,” he told CP24.

“Now this takes away any bias, any situations. We're just going to be testing everybody.”

Drivers who refuse could be charged

Under Canada’s MAS law, introduced in 2018, police officers can demand a breath sample from drivers even if they don’t suspect they have drunk alcohol.

Schmidt says drivers that decline to do a breathalyzer test will face consequences.

“They refuse, it’s the same as failing. It’s a criminal offense of refusing to provide a breath sample.”

In Ontario, drivers with the full G license must have less than 0.05% blood alcohol concentration. The warn range is 0.05 to 0.079, with impaired considered 0.08 or more.

There is a zero tolerance policy for any drivers age 21 or under, any drivers with a G1, G2, M1 or M2 license and commercial vehicle operators.

'This is an unjustified power,' says CCLA

Drivers who spoke to CTV News at the Cambridge OnRoute on Thursday had mixed feelings about the new initiative, with some saying it feels like an invasion of privacy.

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) has similar concerns.

“This is an unjustified power to intrude into someone's life without any suspicion they have done something wrong,” said Shakir Rahim, director of CCLA’s criminal justice program.

Rahim says the CCLA does not believe mandatory alcohol screening will lead to less drunk driving.

He also disagrees with the OPP assertion that screening everyone removes any bias.

“We already know that if you look at who is stopped by the police on the road, disproportionately those individuals come from racialized communities. So the impact of this practice is going to fall most heavily on communities that are already over-policed,” Rahim said.