New justice minister says changes could be coming to impaired driving laws

EDMONTON – Federal Justice Minister Peter MacKay says the Conservative government is considering changes to impaired driving legislation in the Criminal Code.

But the minister says he won’t discuss what changes he’s pondering until he hears from victims.

MacKay is in Edmonton meeting with people who have been affected by crime for input on the government’s promised victims’ rights bill.

One person at the meeting was related to an Alberta man who was killed in a crash involving an accused drunk driver.

Last year, provincial justice ministers asked the federal government to consider increased penalties for impaired driving, particularly in cases involving repeat offenders, serious injury or death.

MacKay, who was once a Crown prosecutor in Nova Scotia, says he remembers a judge saying once that driving down the road while impaired is like pointing a loaded gun at someone.