Legal blood alcohol limit won't drop in Quebec

The legal blood alcohol limit in Quebec will remain at 0.08 per cent after opposition parties blocked the Liberal government's attempts to lower the threshold.

Transport Minister Julie Boulet agreed Tuesday to back away from a clause in her road safety legislation that would lower the legal blood level limit to 0.05 per cent after the Action Démocratique du Québec and Parti Québécois both refused to support the proposal.

The Liberal government was disappointed the idea failed to take root given the precedent established in other countries where lowering the limit has resulted in fewer deadly highway accidents involving alcohol.

"For us, every human life counts," Boulet said Tuesday, reminding the legislature that an average of 200 road deaths a year in Quebec are caused by drunk driving.

"In Switzerland, they brought down by 30 per cent victims on the road caused by alcohol," said Liberal MNA Tony Tomassi. "Here in Quebec, that's 60 [fewer] people who would have died. So who are they who died? They are my family, neighbours, friends. That's good people who would have been alive today."

The opposition has resisted the idea from the beginning, arguing that a lower blood alcohol limit would not affect the number of accidents because most drunk driving incidents are caused by people who are intoxicated well beyond the legal threshold.

"We're not aiming at the right target," said ADQ transport critic Pierre Gingras.

"What we need is to apply the current laws," suggested PQ MNA Serge Deslières.

Both the ADQ and PQ suggested increased police surveillance would be more effective in keeping drunk driving accidents in check.

Quebec's legislature debated Bill 42 late into the afternoon Tuesday with the hope of passing it before the holiday season.

All three parties at the national assembly agreed on most of the bill's provisions including photo radar, mandatory snow tires for most personal and rental vehicles and roadside car seizures for repeat drunk driving offenders.

The legislation will also restrict car advertising that depicts fast, unsafe driving.

Once the bill passes, Quebec will remain the only Canadian province to maintain a 0.08 per cent legal blood alcohol limit. In most provinces, the limit is 0.05 per cent.