Third coroner's report calls for 0.05 limit on alcohol

Photo: Renaud Philippe Archives Le Devoir According to the SAAQ’s “Guide de la route,” drivers whose blood alcohol level is between 0.05 and 0.08 are 4.5 times more likely to have a road accident.

A new coroner’s report filed this fall is urging the Legault government to lower the permitted blood alcohol level on Quebec roads to 0.05. It is the third in two years to make this recommendation.

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It was Liberal MP Monsef Derraji who revealed the existence of this new report on Thursday morning. In his eyes, Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault is showing “stubbornness” in this issue that has often made headlines in recent years.

The report in question was filed in September following the death of a 40-year-old driver in Terrebonne. The man was within the legal limit of 0.08, but coroner André Cantin nevertheless determined that his death was caused by impaired driving.

He recommended that the Ministry of Transport and the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) “take all necessary steps” to ensure that the Highway Safety Code imposes penalties as soon as the threshold of 50 mg per 100 ml is reached.

Two other coroners said the same thing in 2023

Coroner Cantin is not the first to request this. Two of his colleagues had done the same thing last year, as had many experts.

In Canada, Quebec is the only territory, along with the Yukon, that does not impose the 0.05 limit. And according to the Guide de la routeof the SAAQ, motorists whose blood alcohol level is between 0.05 and 0.08 are 4.5 times more likely to have a road accident.

MP Derraji, who has been defending this issue for a long time in Parliament, argued on Tuesday that Minister Guilbault was showing “populism” in this issue.

She does not want to “offend” the 40% of the population who oppose such a measure, mainly “in the regions,” he argued.