Drunk driving sentencing brings up painful memories, questions for N.W.T. advocate

An N.W.T. mother who has been advocating against drinking and driving ever since her daughter's death says a recent sentencing decision in Behchokǫ̀ brings up painful memories. 

In 2008, Sharon Allen lost her teenage daughter Keisha Trudel after a 16-year-old boy crashed a vehicle while intoxicated in Fort Smith. 

Allen said she empathizes with the family of Felix Black, 22, who died in a drunk driving crash in 2021. A Behchokǫ̀ woman was sentenced to 3.5 years last week in the case. 

"I can't help but feel for that person's family," she said. 

"I can't help but feel because I know how that feels and it leaves a lasting hole in your heart, you know, to know that someone died because of someone else's decision."

Allen has been advocating against drinking and driving for the last 15 years, and recent statistics from RCMP show impaired driving in the territory continues to be an issue.

In the last year, RCMP in the Northwest Territories issued 365 impaired driving charges, Dean Riou, inspector with the N.W.T RCMP wrote in an emailed statement to CBC.

That averages out to one impaired driving charge a day.

Since the fatal car crash in Behchokǫ̀ in June 2021, there have been three fatal motor vehicle collisions where RCMP can say alcohol was a factor. There is one open investigation where a dangerous driving causing death charge was laid, they said.

Canada's highest rate of impaired driving

N.W.T. has the highest rate of police-reported impaired driving, according to a 2019 report from Statistics Canada. 

"These things shouldn't keep happening, but they keep happening and we're getting a failing grade in the north because of this," Allen said. 

More education and awareness is needed, Allen said, along with a change in legislation.

"The sentencing that we've been seeing and that I've noticed is not enough. It's not enough to change a person's life because we have re-offenders, we have high incidents of re-offenders, and how are we going to get the message across if people keep offending, [and] making the same mistakes."

Recent N.W.T. fatalities still under investigation 

May was a tragic month for the territory — RCMP reported four deaths involving motorized vehicles in a two-week time span.

On May 11, there was a single-vehicle collision in Behchokǫ̀. The lone driver, an 18-year-old female, was found dead at the scene. Two days later, a 19-year-old female died after being injured in an ATV collision that RCMP described as an "apparent rollover." On May 15, there was a collision with a golf cart that resulted in the death of a 31-year-old male. 

In the press release, RCMP urged drivers and passengers in motorized vehicles to wear seatbelts and to not get into a vehicle if the driver had been drinking.

"These deaths are very heartbreaking and also very preventable," Cpl. Matt Halstead with the N.W.T. RCMP wrote in the email.

Two weeks later, a 22-year-old female was injured in Wekweétí after getting out of a moving vehicle. She later died in the community health center. 

RCMP said all the collisions are still under investigation.

"It is too early for me to concretely say whether alcohol was a contributing factor," Riou wrote in an emailed statement.

What's the N.W.T.'s law?  

Novice drivers, any driver under the age of 22 and any driver of a commercial vehicle — like a tractor or school bus — will be penalized for being caught with any amount of drugs or alcohol in their system.

For other drivers, if RCMP has reasonable grounds to believe a driver's ability has been adversely affected by alcohol or drug, a 24-hour license suspension can be administered.

If a driver's blood alcohol contraction exceeds .08 per cent, drivers can receive a 90-day license suspension. 

An advocate for Mothers Against Drunk Driving Canada (MADD) says mandatory license suspensions help deter drinking and driving, and but they're also calling for mandatory alcohol screenings.

"Canada is actually quite late to the game when it comes to mandatory alcohol screenings," said Eric Dumschat, legal director for Mothers Against Drunk Driving Canada. "Australia, Europe — they've been using mandatory alcohol screenings, or it's known as random breath testing, for decades and we've seen the life saving effects it's had.

"So if Canada were to implement that you would see a significant reduction in alcohol related harms when it came to impaired driving."

But license suspensions and jail time aside, advocates said, the real deterrence should be the chance you might take someone's life.

"There is not a day I don't think about my daughter Keisha," Allen said.

"And this is the kind of messaging that needs to go out to families and communities that your decision impacts everyone. It just doesn't impact yourself — it affects everybody."