Grieving Beaumont mom to meet with federal justice minister

A Beaumont mother who wants tougher sentences for drunk drivers who cause fatal collisions is meeting today in Calgary with federal Justice Minister Peter McKay.

Sheri Arsenault's 18-year-old son Bradley and two other young men were killed by an alleged drunk driver in 2011.

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Arsenault is now involved with Families for Justice, a group that has collected 50,000 signatures on a petition calling for mandatory prison sentences of at least five years for anyone convicted of impaired driving causing death.

Arsenault says many impaired drivers are given house arrest or as little as three years in jail, and that has to change.

You know it's time that this is recognized as a serious crime and alcohol can not become the excuse, she said.

:They chose to drink the alcohol and we're not against alcohol, we don't care. celebrate all you want. It's simple. Just don't drive.

Bradley Arsenault, Thaddeus Lake, 22, and Kole Novak, 18 were killed on Nov. 26, 2011 when their car was struck by a pickup truck on Highway 625 south of Beaumont.

The accused, Jonathan Pratt, goes on trial for manslaughter and impaired driving causing death in April.