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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, July 29, 2016 | 6 What's wrong? What are we doing wrong? Despite extensive public education campaigns, extraordinary efforts by police and anti-drunk driving advocates, a raft of provinciallymandated penalties over and above the Criminal Code of Canada, Canada still is not doing well on reducing alcohol-related driving deaths. A recent study from the U.S. Centres for Disease Control reports that our country ranks No. 1 among 19 relatively wealthy countries. The CDC study, recognized as one of the most reliable of its kind, found that while fewer people are dying from motor vehicle crashes, the percentage of road deaths linked to alcohol impairment was 34 per cent higher than any other surveyed nation. Dubious second place honours went to the United States at 31 per cent, with Australia ranking third at 30 per cent and France ranking fourth at 29 per cent. The study has experts warning that Canada needs new strategies and laws to move the needle to become competitive with wealthy countries that do much better, such as Israel at 3.2 per cent, Japan at 6.2 per cent and Austria at 6.6 per cent. But what new strategies are appropriate? Mothers Against Drunk Driving Canada (MADD) argues, as it has for some time now, that part of the answer is random roadside breath tests. That measure is already in place in several European countries as well as in Australia. The problem with that, and the reason the federal government doesn't support that speci c measure, is that it butts up against our Constitutional right of protection from unreasonable search and seizure. Legal experts argue that extreme measure would not survive a Constitutional challenge, and that's a convincing argument for why it's one step too far. It's also worth noting that while Australia already has random breath testing, it ranks third in alcohol related deaths, suggesting the policy isn't having a signi cant deterrent effect in that country. What measures might work? A private member's bill from Conservative MP Steven Blaney calls for a mandatory minimum sentence of ve years for impaired driving causing death. So far the Trudeau government has said it is not interested in mandatory minimums, but unless it has clearly better ideas it ought to be open in this case. MADD and others also advocate stronger administrative penalties. These could include measures like vehicle impoundment and licence suspension for drivers who are caught with blood alcohol levels below the criminal threshold of 0.08 but in the warning range of 0.05 to 0.08. Sounds draconian? Maybe. And certainly random roadside checks are. But something needs to change because it is clear the current regime, while well-intentioned and executed, isn't working by itself. Sooner or later draconian measures may be the only option. The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations and grammar. In order to be published all letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. Letters should be addressed to: The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 5046 Mainway, Unit 2, Burlington ON L7L 5Z1 or via email to ablackburn@ oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. Editorial "Connected to your Community" 5046 Mainway, Unit 2, Burlington ON L7L 5Z1 General Inquiries: (905) 845-3824 Classi ed Advertising: (905) 632-4440 Circulation: 5300 Harvester Rd., Burlington (905) 631-6095 Volume 54 | Number 61 The Oakville Beaver is a division of Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. Vice ­President and Group Publisher of Metroland West Regional General Manager Advertising Director NEIL OLIVER KELLY MONTAGUE DANIEL BAIRD Managing Editor ANGELA BLACKBURN RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director Business Manager LORI ANN GZOVDANOVIC Director of Production MARK DILLS MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager Director of Distribution CHARLENE HALL KIM MOSSMAN Circulation Manager My View C Climate change must be on our agenda Pam Damoff Oakville North-Burlington MP limate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time and also one of the greatest opportunities. From increased incidences of droughts to coastal ooding, to the expanding melt of sea ice in our Arctic, the widespread impacts of climate change are compelling Canadians to think about viable solutions now. On July 20, I was pleased to host a Town Hall on climate change at Tansley Woods Community Centre (in Burlington). Together with representatives from Oakvillegreen and BurlingtonGreen, I led Oakville North-Burlington residents in a discussion of what governments, communities and individuals Proud Official Media Sponsor For: Canadian Circulations Audit Board Member Recognized for Excellence by Ontario Community Newspapers Association Canadian Community Newspapers Association can do to reduce and adapt to climate change. The scienti c research is clear: global temperatures have increased by about .85 degrees Celsius since 1880; Canada has warmed at twice the global average with Canada's North warming see Submit on p.7 Proud Official Media Sponsor For: Pud by Steve Nease The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone 416-340-1981. 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