Sask. RCMP will now administer a breathalyzer to every driver pulled over for any reason

Saskatchewan RCMP will now administer a breathalyzer test at every traffic stop in their jurisdiction.

RCMP began the program on April 1 and say they will continue the blitz on an ongoing basis.

The campaign is the result of powers given to police in 2018 changes to The Criminal Code. Those changes introduced a section allowing for mandatory alcohol screenings to be conducted on any driver of a motor vehicle without the need for reasonable suspicion. 

"We're asking our traffic service members to ask for a sample from everybody they stop. That way we're not picking and choosing," said Supt. Grant St. Germaine, the officer in charge of Saskatchewan's RCMP traffic services. 

Germaine said the campaign is driven by a desire to make the province's roads safer.

According to a Statistics Canada analysis released in 2021, Saskatchewan had the second highest rate of police reported impaired driving per capita of any province in Canada (539 incidents per 100,000 population).

That's more than double the national average (228 incidents per 100,000 population) and only behind Prince Edward Island (645 incidents per 100,000 population).

The Mounties say they will not be pulling people over for the sole purpose of completing a breathalyzer. They say it will only be requested once a driver is pulled over for other traffic violations such as speeding, careless driving or brake lights not working. 

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association says it doesn't want impaired drivers on the road, but has been opposed to mandatory alcohol screenings since they were introduced in parliament. 

"Our concern there is that it gives the state an unjustified power to intrude into someone's life without any suspicion that they've done anything wrong," said Shakir Rahim, the director of the association's criminal justice program.

Rahim maintains that impaired driving is a scourge that needs to be addressed, but said there are better, more effective ways to address the root issue. 

He said the change could open the door for racialized people to be unjustly scrutinized.

"Just like any other type of investigative power or investigative tool, we need to ensure that what we're doing upholds privacy rights and the Charter," he said.

Tyler McMurchy, a spokesperson for Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI), confirmed that the RCMP approached SGI about conducting the blitz after learning about the Regina Police Service conducting mandatory alcohol screenings through March.