Quebec Liberals say Guilbault has lost her credibility when it comes to road safety

Quebec faces backlash over alcohol limit Opposition leaders are criticizing Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault for not considering a report recommending penalties for drivers with a blood alcohol level over 0.05.

Quebec's Official Opposition accused Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault of negligence in relation to drunk driving and that she has lost her credibility when it comes to ensuring road safety,

The Quebec auto insurance board (SAAQ) is in favour of imposing administrative penalties on drivers with a blood alcohol level of between 0.05 and 0.08, according to documents obtained by "Le Devoir."

Guilbault had opposed the addition of this measure to a bill she had piloted, and she recently admitted that she had not read this opinion.

The PLQ is in favour of tightening to 0.05. The previous Couillard government had considered imposing it but failed to follow through.

"I think that a minister who admits not reading expert advice before making decisions simply doesn't have the credibility to ensure road safety," said Liberal MNA Monsef Derraji during a press scrum in parliament, without going so far as to call for the minister's resignation.

"It's the drunk-driving scandal with this CAQ government," he added.

It was coroner Yvon Garneau who, in Oct. 2021, had asked the Ministry of Transport and the SAAQ to carry out a feasibility analysis on this potential tightening, called for by groups and relatives of victims of drunk drivers.

The Liberal party had requested the opinion under the Access to Information Act, but it was heavily redacted.

However, "Le Devoir" obtained the document in its entirety. The SAAQ sees administrative sanctions for blood alcohol levels between 0.05 and 0.08 as a "promising measure," it says.

"We want to save lives, but the Minister has refused to move in this direction," condemned Québec solidaire (QS) MNA Étienne Grandmont.

Citing the report, Grandmont maintains that there was "dissension" within the CAQ caucus on this measure and that, therefore, "she decided to put the lid on the pot," he continued.

"While the debate was really inescapable in the Assembly, she would have been negligent to the point of not reading the study commissioned by her ministry?" asked PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon at the press scrum. "Or maybe she's lying and we can't trust her word."

He called for a parliamentary commission to discuss tightening the standard, tightening roadblocks and other preventive measures.

"The government doesn't want to be confronted with experts or science. (...) It makes the debate difficult because there is no transparency," concluded St-Pierre Plamondon.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Oct. 8, 2024.