(Quebec) At the request of a coroner, the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) studied the feasibility of lowering the blood alcohol limit to 0.05, a measure that the Legault government refuses to implement. However, it is impossible to know the conclusions: the analysis is redacted.
What you need to know
The idea of lowering the alcohol limit to 0.05 (50 mg of alcohol/100 ml of blood) comes up periodically in the National Assembly. The Legault government has already said no to the imposition of such a measure.
In October 2023, Coroner Me Yvon Garneau recommended that the SAAQ conduct an analysis on the feasibility of lowering the alcohol limit.
Documents submitted following an access to information request to obtain this analysis were completely blacked out.
The Coroner Yvon Garneau, after investigating the death of Stéphanie Houle, who died in a road accident related to drinking and driving in 2021, recommended that the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility and the SAAQ look “as soon as possible” into the possibility of lowering the blood alcohol limit for a driver from 80 mg/100 ml (0.08) to 50 mg/100 ml (0.05).
An access to information request shows that one month after the publication of the coroner’s report, in October 2023, the SAAQ’s top boss, Éric Ducharme, wrote to the chief coroner to confirm that the company had “taken note of the scientific literature that presents the gains obtained following the imposition of administrative sanctions for cases where the blood alcohol level is between [0,05 et 0,08] “.
What are these gains? The rest of the excerpt from the letter is redacted. As is the entire analysis carried out by the SAAQ, which is about five pages long.
It is also impossible to know the conclusions of the organization, or even to know if it made recommendations.
“I am more than shocked,” said MP Monsef Derraji in an interview.
It was the Liberal elected official who made the request for access to obtain the analysis produced following the coroner’s recommendation. “We discovered that everything was blacked out. […] My only conclusion is that the arguments that are there go against the [position] of the Deputy Prime Minister [et ministre des Transports, Geneviève Guilbault] ” he accuses.
“Common knowledge”
The minister’s office assured that “the SAAQ has a duty, like all public bodies, to carry out its mission in compliance with the laws in force. It is up to the organization’s management to ensure compliance with the legal framework in the conduct of their operations.”
In its response to the access to information request, the SAAQ explains that it removed information based on the Act respecting access to documents held by public bodies and the protection of personal information since they “contain an analysis which has not been the subject of a decision” and that they “relate to an opinion or recommendation made less than ten years ago”.
“It’s very serious,” Mr. Derraji laments. “It’s an important study because we’re talking about human lives. […] If the SAAQ study calls for lowering the rate to 0.05 and adopting administrative measures, well, that’s public knowledge. And if [le gouvernement] “It doesn’t follow the science, well, they say it’s a political decision,” he argues.
The Ministry of Transport referred our requests to the SAAQ, which is “handling the file.” The SAAQ had not yet responded to questions from The PressWednesday evening.
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Monsef Derraji, Member of Parliament for Nelligan and Leader of the Official Opposition
Document “for decision”
The documents sent by the SAAQ also contain a note submitted to the vice-president of marketing strategies, road safety and employee experience “for decision” on the imposition of a possible administrative penalty regime for a blood alcohol level between 0.05 and 0.08. However, here again, the documents are largely redacted. Only the “reminder of facts” portion is not.
In particular, we learn that “in the event that the legal blood alcohol limit for driving a road vehicle is lowered to 0.05 in Quebec, the Company wishes to adopt a system of administrative measures inspired by the system” in place in British Columbia. However, “there are no plans to change the provisions applicable to offences for exceeding 0.08”.
We also recall the results of a SOM survey in 2022, according to which 55% of Quebecers surveyed believe that a blood alcohol level below the legal limit affects their ability to drive safely.
The debate over the alcohol limit was rekindled last winter during consultations on Minister Geneviève Guilbault’s road safety bill. The Legault government remained inflexible despite requests from groups such as CAA-Québec and the Association de la santé publique du Québec, which recommended lowering the threshold to 0.05.
The cocktail affair
The affair had also caused a stir after a grieving couple, who are campaigning for Quebec to follow the lead of other Canadian provinces and adopt the 0.05 threshold, revealed that they had been invited by an employee of a CAQ member of parliament to pay $200 to meet Ms.me Guilbault at a fundraising cocktail. The party has since apologized to the couple and refunded their donation.
In the wake of the controversy, the CAQ caucus held discussions on the issue, but the government ultimately maintained its position.1.
In 2010, the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec also recommended a threshold of 0.05. “The scientific literature is unanimous regarding the effect of lowering the legal blood alcohol level on road collisions,” it wrote.
1. Read “Drinking and driving: the Legault government says no to 0.05”