Province reminds motorists of impaired laws (alcohol and cannabis) for a safer long weekend on the highways

From the Province of Alberta

Plan ahead this long weekend to avoid tragedy

Albertans are reminded to drive safe and sober as they take to the roads over the long weekend.

Driving while impaired by alcohol or drugs puts people at serious risk of injury and death. Cannabis, prescription drugs or over-the-counter medication can be just as dangerous behind the wheel as alcohol, especially when taken in any combination.

Daily traffic volumes tend to increase on Alberta highways during long weekends. During the summer months, long weekends experience about 50 per cent more fatalities and 15 per cent more injuries than the rest of the year.

Impaired driving facts

The federal government updated Canada’s impaired driving laws in 2018.
Any amount of alcohol can cause impairment.
Having a BAC of 0.08 or over within two hours of driving is a criminal offence.
In Alberta, and in most other Canadian jurisdictions, a driver with a BAC between 0.05 and 0.079 may face provincial consequences through the Immediate Roadside Suspension Program.
Cannabis limits are measured using nanograms of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in blood.
Criminal penalties for cannabis are:
- Over 2 ng/ml but less that 5ng/ml of THC in blood:
  - Maximum $1,000 fine (summary conviction)
- 5 ng/ml or more THC in blood:
  - 1st offence: Minimum $1,000 fine
  - 2nd offence: Mandatory 30 days imprisonment
  - 3rd and subsequent offence(s): Mandatory 120 days imprisonment
- 2.5 ng/ml or more THC combined with 50 mg/100ml or more alcohol (in blood):
  - 1st offence: Minimum $1,000 fine
  - 2nd offence: Mandatory 30 days imprisonment
  - 3rd and subsequent offence(s): Mandatory 120 days imprisonment
- Refusing to comply with a demand for a sample:
  - 1st offence: Minimum $2,000 fine
  - 2nd offence: Mandatory 30 days imprisonment
  - 3rd and subsequent offence(s): Mandatory 120 days imprisonment
Having the prohibited level of alcohol, THC, or other impairing drugs in your blood within two hours of driving is an offence.
On average, 6,000 people were convicted of impaired driving in Alberta each year for the last five years (April 2015 to March 2019).
Over a 10-year period, from 2008 to 2017, 855 people died in Alberta as a result of alcohol- or drug-impaired driving, and nearly 13,000 people were injured.

Related Topics:Alberta RCMP feature impaired driving

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Alberta

Official statement from Premier Danielle Smith and Energy Minister Brian Jean on the start-up of the Trans Mountain Pipeline

Published on May 1, 2024

Government of Alberta

Alberta is celebrating an important achievement for the energy industry – the start-up of the twinned Trans Mountain pipeline. It’s great news Albertans and Canadians as this will welcome a new era of prosperity and economic growth. The completion of TMX is monumental for Alberta, since this will significantly increase our province’s output. It will triple the capacity of the original pipeline to now carry 890,000 barrels per day of crude oil from Alberta’s oil sands to British Columbia’s Pacific Coast.

We are excited that Canada’s biggest and newest oil pipeline in more than a decade, can now bring oil from Edmonton to tide water in B.C. This will allow us to get our energy resources to Pacific markets, including Washington State and California, and Asian markets like Japan, South Korea, China, and India. Alberta now has new energy customers and tankers with Alberta oil will be unloading in China and India in the next few months.

For Alberta this is a game-changer, the world needs more reliably and sustainably sourced Alberta energy, not less. World demand for oil and gas resources will continue in the decades ahead and the new pipeline expansion will give us the opportunity to meet global energy demands and increase North American and global energy security and help remove the issues of energy poverty in other parts of the world.

Analysts are predicting the price differential on Canadian crude oil will narrow resulting in many millions of extra government revenues, which will help fund important programs like health, education, and social services – the things Albertans rely on. TMX will also result in billions of dollars of economic prosperity for Albertans, Indigenous communities and Canadians and create well-paying jobs throughout Canada.

Our province wants to congratulate the Trans Mountain Corporation for its tenacity to have completed this long awaited and much needed energy infrastructure, and to thank the more than 30,000 dedicated, skilled workers whose efforts made this extraordinary project a reality. The province also wants to thank the Federal Government for seeing this project through. This is a great example of an area where the provincial and federal government can cooperate and work together for the benefit of Albertans and all Canadians.

Alberta

Protecting the right to vote for Canadian citizens: Minister McIver

Published on May 1, 2024

Government of Alberta

Minister of Municipal Affairs Ric McIver issued the following statement in response to Calgary City Council’s vote to extend the right to vote to permanent residents:

“Yesterday, Calgary city council passed a motion advocating for permanent residents to be extended the right to vote in civic elections. Alberta’s government has been clear since the beginning: only Canadian citizens are able to vote in civic elections. That will not be changing.

“The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms affirms the right of every Canadian citizen to vote and to run as a candidate. This right extends to voters in municipal, provincial and federal elections.

“Protecting our democracy is of the utmost importance. Our provincial election legislation, like the Local Authorities Elections Act, has also been clear since its inception that voting is a right of Canadian citizens.

“Alberta’s government is also ensuring that voting is accessible for more Albertans. The Municipal Affairs Statutes Amendment Act proposes to enable special ballot access for any voter who requests it, without having to provide any specific reason such as physical disability, absence from the municipality or working for the municipal election. The ministries of Seniors, Community and Social Services and Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction are also making it easier for individuals to obtain the identification Albertans need for a variety of services, including the ability to cast a ballot.

“Our government will continue to protect the integrity of our elections and make sure voting is accessible for all Albertans who are Canadian citizens.”