B.C. man convicted of drunk driving 21 times;
believed most in Canadian history
Police in Abbotsford, B.C., say a man who has been convicted of drunk driving 21 times could hold a Canadian record.
Abbotsford police say officers were called to the scene of a motorcycle crash in August 2022 where they found a person who was a passenger on the bike being treated for serious injuries.
Police say the owner and driver of the motorcycle, who was known for his history of impaired driving, tried to flee before officers arrived.
They say an investigation led to the arrest of 66-year-old Roy Heide, whose blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit at the time of the crash.
Police say Heide pleaded guilty to multiple impaired driving infractions on Dec. 18, receiving a total jail sentence of just under five years.
He has been convicted of impaired driving 21 times.
Abbotsford police believe that to be the most convictions for impaired driving a person has received in Canadian history. They also warned of the “devastating consequences to innocent road users” of drinking and driving.
That this fool has not killed anyone yet is no fault of the judges who sentenced him for the first 20 impaired driving charges. This is Canada's absurdly criminal-friendly justice system. Victims, and potential victims hold no sway in Canadian courts.
B.C. Supreme Court blocks public drug use ban
The British Columbia Supreme Court has blocked new provincial laws against public consumption of illegal substances.
Friday’s ruling in favour of the Harm Reduction Nurses Association imposes a temporary injunction until March 31, pending a constitutional challenge, with the judge saying “irreparable harm will be caused” if the laws come into force.
He seems to be ignorant of the fact that irreparable harm will be caused if the laws don't come into force. Has he not seen reports of dirty needles found in parks and on beaches, near school grounds, etc., etc.? Is he willing to sacrifice innocent children on the mantle of protecting drug addicts?
Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said in a statement the government was “concerned” by the ruling against laws meant to prevent “the use of drugs in places that are frequented by children and families.”
“(This) decision temporarily prevents the province from regulating where hard drugs are used, something every other province does, every day,” he said.
The Restricting Public Consumption of Illegal Substances Act was passed by the legislature in November, allowing fines and imprisonment for people who refuse to comply with police orders not to consume drugs in certain public places.
The nurses association argued the act, which has yet to come into effect, would violate the Canadian Charter in various ways if enforced.
But Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson said in his ruling that it was unnecessary to turn to those arguments, since the “balance of convenience” and the risk of irreparable harm weighed in the plaintiff’s favour.
“I accept that lone drug use may be particularly dangerous due to an absence or a diminished degree of support in the event of an overdose,” Hinkson’s ruling says.
“When people are isolated and out of sight, they are at a much higher risk of dying from an unreversed overdose.”
The law would allow police to order people to “cease using an illegal substance in a specified area,” or to leave that area.
The places specified in the act include sports fields, beaches, or parks, within six metres of building entrances and within 15 metres of a playground, skate park or wading pool.
People who refuse could be fined up to $2,000 and imprisoned for up to six months.
The act would give police discretion to arrest those who don’t comply and seize and destroy their drugs.
Lawyer Caitlin Shane with the Pivot Legal Society represented the nurses association. She said the injunction shows “substance use cannot be legislated without scrutiny.”
Shane said in an interview that most people who use drugs in B.C. “live in communities that do not have safe, legal indoor spaces to use drugs.”
Fine! If they stay in their encampments, children are not going to be wandering around them. It's when they go to areas where children play that they could potentially do great harm.
She said the court granting the injunction was a “welcome decision” because even though the act hadn’t been brought into legal effect, it was already being enforced by police.
“We have heard, kind of, on the ground from people in communities around B.C., that police have already begun attempting to enforce this law, which was never in effect,” Shane said. “So this judgment makes absolutely certain and confirms the fact that the law is not enforceable. It is not in effect and it can’t be used against people.”
Shane said the law “stands against” the provincial government’s public positions about “appropriate responses to drug use and the toxic drug supply.”
“A law like this imposes even greater burden and hardship on people who are already being failed by B.C.’s laws and policies respecting drug consumption,” she said.
Shane said there’s been a “backlash” since the provincial government’s decriminalization approach began, and the law was passed in response to the ongoing “stigma.”
Shane said the province’s approach under Premier David Eby has signalled a “change of course” since his time as a legal advocate with the Pivot Legal Society.
“It’s interesting insofar as some of the things that we are advocating for are things that our premier once advocated for too,” she said.
Farnworth said the province was reviewing the court’s decision and “assessing our next steps.”
“We’re determined to keep doing everything we can to save lives in the face of the toxic drug crisis by treating drug addiction as a health matter rather than a criminal one, while recognizing that hard drugs should not be used in public places frequented by children and families, as well as vulnerable community members,” he said.
That's just plain common sense. Why can't the BC Supreme Court see that? Are they devoid of common sense?
Farnworth said hard drug use should be subject to similar regulations governing “smoking, alcohol and cannabis.”
In October, the province said the new laws provided “a consistent approach throughout the province.”
BC United opposition leader Kevin Falcon said in a statement after the ruling that the Eby government was “reckless” with its decriminalization policy, and the act “fell woefully short and is now subject to a temporary injunction.”
“As this legislation is now further scrutinized following today’s temporary injunction, it will still be illegal in most communities to enjoy a glass of wine at a picnic in the park while unchecked consumption of potentially lethal drugs such as crystal meth, crack cocaine, and fentanyl in that same park remains the reality under this NDP government,” Falcon said.
According to the BC Coroners Service, at least 13,317 people have died due to unregulated drugs in B.C. since a public-health emergency was declared in April 2016.
In an update issued at the end of last month, the service said unregulated drugs had claimed at least 2,039 lives in the first 10 months of the year.
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