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Fourth Session, Thirty-Eighth Legislature

This version is based on the printed bill that was distributed in the Legislature after First Reading.   It is not the official version.   If accuracy is critical, you can obtain a copy of the printed bill from Statutory Publications.

Bill 18

THE HIGHWAY TRAFFIC AMENDMENT ACT (COUNTERMEASURES AGAINST IMPAIRED DRIVERS AND OTHER OFFENDERS)


Explanatory Note

(Assented to                                         )

HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, enacts as follows:

C.C.S.M. c. H60 amended

1

The Highway Traffic Act is amended by this Act.

2

Clause 28.3(b) is replaced with the following:

(b) who pleads guilty to or is found guilty of committing an offence under section 253, 254 or 255 of the Criminal Code, or an offence committed by means of, or in relation to, a motor vehicle or off-road vehicle in a state of the United States that the registrar considers to be equivalent to an offence under those sections;

3(1)

Subsection 264(1) is amended

(a) in the definition "Category A offence", by adding the following after clause (a):

(a.1) an offence committed by means of, or in relation to, a motor vehicle or off-road vehicle in a state of the United States, if the registrar considers the offence to be equivalent to an offence referred to in subclause (a)(iii), (iv) or (v),

(b) in the definition "Category B offence", by adding the following after clause (a.1):

(a.2) an offence committed by means of, or in relation to, a motor vehicle or off-road vehicle in a state of the United States, if the registrar considers the offence to be equivalent to an offence referred to in subclause (a)(vii) or (viii),

(a.3) an offence committed by means of, or in relation to, a motor vehicle or off-road vehicle in a state of the United States, if

(i) a person under the age of 16 years was a passenger in or on the motor vehicle or off-road vehicle at a time material to the offence, and

(ii) the registrar considers the offence to be equivalent to an offence referred to in subclause (a)(iii), (iv) or (v) of the definition "Category A offence",

3(2)

The following is added after subsection 264(1.3):

Deemed conviction re certain offences

264(1.4)

If a person pleads guilty or is found by the court to be guilty of having committed a Category A or Category B offence and is discharged of the offence under section 730 of the Criminal Code or subsection 42(2) of the Youth Criminal Justice Act (Canada), the person is deemed to have been convicted of the offence for the purposes of this section.

4(1)

Subsection 279.1(1) is amended

(a) in the definition "restricted licence", by striking out "or" at the end of clause (a), adding "or" at the end of clause (b) and adding the following as clause (c):

(c) is issued by the registrar in accordance with subsection (1.2) and restricts the holder to driving a specified motor vehicle that is equipped with an approved ignition-interlock device.

(b) by adding the following definition:

"licence suspension or driving disqualification", in relation to a person, means a period during which the person's driver's licence is suspended or the person is disqualified or prohibited from driving a motor vehicle, implement of husbandry, special mobile machine or tractor, or from operating an off-road vehicle, if the suspension, disqualification or prohibition relates to one of the offences referred to in subsection (1.2); (« suspension de permis ou interdiction de conduire »)

4(2)

The following is added after subsection 279.1(1):

Deemed conviction re certain offences

279.1(1.1)

If a person pleads guilty or is found by the court to be guilty of having committed an offence under paragraph 253(a) or (b) or subsection 254(5) or 255(2) or (3) of the Criminal Code and is discharged of the offence under section 730 of the Criminal Code or subsection 42(2) of the Youth Criminal Justice Act (Canada), the person is deemed to have been convicted of the offence for the purposes of this section.

Restricted licence after certain suspensions

279.1(1.2)

When a person applies for a driver's licence within the period prescribed in the regulations following the expiration of a licence suspension or driving disqualification imposed for

(a) a conviction for an offence referred to in subclause (a)(vii) or (viii) or clause (a.1) to (a.3) of the definition "Category B offence" in subsection 264(1); or

(b) a second or subsequent conviction for

(i) an offence referred to in subclause (a)(iii), (iv) or (v) or clause (a.1) of the definition "Category A offence", or in subclause (a)(vii) or (viii) or clause (a.1) to (a.3) of the definition "Category B offence", in subsection 264(1), or

(ii) any combination of those offences;

the registrar may only issue him or her a restricted licence.

4(3)

The following is added after clause 279.1(7)(b):

(b.1) for the purposes of subsection (1.2), prescribing periods following the expiration of licence suspensions or driving disqualifications during which the requirements of that subsection apply;

Consequential amendment, S.M. 2005, c. 37, Schedule A

5

Clause 21(b) of The Drivers and Vehicles Act, as enacted by S.M. 2005, c. 37, Schedule A, is replaced with the following:

(b) the person has pleaded guilty to or has been found guilty of committing an offence under section 253, 254 or 255 of the Criminal Code (Canada), or an offence committed by means of, or in relation to, a motor vehicle or off-road vehicle in a state of the United States that the registrar considers to be equivalent to an offence under one of those sections.

Coming into force

6

This Act comes into force on a day to be fixed by proclamation.

Explanatory Note

This Bill gives the same status to alcohol-related offences committed in the United States as those committed in Canada for the purposes of suspension of drivers' licences and related administrative sanctions.  It also gives the same status to offences for which the offender is found guilty, but receives a discharge.

The Bill also restricts certain offenders to driving only motor vehicles equipped with an ignition-interlock device after their suspensions expire.

The Bill makes a consequential amendment to The Drivers and Vehicles Act regarding impaired drivers' assessments.