Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to speak in support of the anti-drinking and driving campaign launched by the Minister of Transportation on October 6th.
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The campaign is aimed at making the public aware of the changes to the rules and consequences of drinking and driving in the Northwest Territories. Approved amendments to the Motor Vehicles Act will come into force on December 1, 2004. These changes are a substantive improvement to the act, providing enforcement officers with another tool to get drivers who insist on getting behind the wheel, after consuming alcohol, off our streets.
Households across the NWT received a pamphlet in the mail alerting them to the tough, new administrative rules. Drivers caught for the first time with blood alcohol levels between .05 and .08 will automatically have their licence suspended for 24 hours. The consequences of subsequent offences are progressively more severe. These changes mean that the legislation finally has some teeth, and drivers under the influence of alcohol will not be tolerated on our streets and highways.
I applaud the work of the many individuals who worked over a period of years to bring about the amendments to the Motor Vehicles Act. I also congratulate the Minister, Mr. McLeod, and his staff for a great job with the advertising campaign alerting northerners to the changes. It is an unnecessary tragedy that over 75,000 Canadians are affected by drinking and driving directly each year, and it is, quite frankly, unacceptable that statistically per capita we are worse off in the North. It gives me great pleasure that, as legislators, we are finally doing something about this problem. The amendments to the act establish the NWT as a Canadian leader in the use of legislation to deter impaired driving. Mr. Speaker, this is something we can all be very proud of. Thank you.
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