Prepare to give a roadside breath sample, Yukon RCMP warns

The Yukon RCMPsays itwill be asking alot more Yukonersto give roadside breath samples, afterfederal changes to alcohol-impaired driving law kick in next week.

"The holiday season is coming, we're likely to be running those stop-checks at the side of the road.Alot more people will beasked to blow in the approved screening device," said RCMP Staff Sgt. Jane Boissonneault.

Starting on Tuesday, police can demand thatdriverssubmit to roadsidealcohol screening tests if they've violated traffic laws by speeding or blowing through a stop sign, for instance or if they have been stopped duringa random roadside sobriety testing program. Drivers blowing over the legal limit give police probable grounds to require follow-up tests that could produce results leading to criminal charges.

"It will make it just that much simpler for us to demand that breath sample, at the side of the road," Boissonneaultsaid."In the past, we had to either smell liquor or have an admission."

Refusing to give a breath sample means you could be found guilty of a criminal offenceand be fined a minimum$2,000 or lose your licence for a year, says Leo Lane of the Public Prosecution Service of Canada in Whitehorse.

"It's a screening sample only, so it's done at the side of the road. It can't be used as evidence in court to get a criminal conviction. It just gives the officer the legal grounds to then take you to the police station and demand the full breath sample," Lane said.

The federal government has said it expects the new lawwill face constitutional challengesin court. Lane says courts may find that it is an infringement on people's Charter rights, but that it is justified.

"NoCharter rightis absolute.Charter rights are subject to reasonable limits in a free and democratic society," Lane said.

"And we think that this is a fair trade-off that Canadians will be willing to give up some of their freedoms on the road, if it means that everybody can get where they need to be, safely."

Staff Sgt. Boissonneaultexpects officers will have to do "some on-the-spot education" to explain the new law todrivers who arepulled over.

"Some people who like to think they can get away with drinking and driving probably won't like it as much," she said.

"I can understand that people might have a little bit of resentment if they're delayed a few minutes, but in the bigger picture, we're trying to keep the roads safe for everybody."