Alberta's drunk driving penalties are missing the mark.
Attention has been drawn to a Rocky Mountain House widow's feelings of “shock, disbelief, numbness and anger” after 25-year old Peter MacLaurin of Airdrie was sentenced to two years and nine months for his role in MacLaurin's death on June 15, 2013.
Wayne Rinas, 52, was driving north on Highway 22 and his vehicle was struck head-on by Laurin 15 kilometres north of Rocky Mountain House. According to police reports, his blood alcohol level was three times the maximum legal limit and he was travelling 168 km/h at the collision site near the junction of highways 22 and 12, which has a posted speed limit of 100 km/h.
He was convicted of criminal negligence causing death and he will be prohibited from driving for five years as well as having to provide a DNA sample for the national database.
The real travesty of this case lies not in what was recognized, but rather what was not.
For pleading guilty to the charge of criminal negligence, MacLaurin's other charges of impaired driving causing death and dangerous driving causing death were dropped in addition to victim impact statements being tossed out.
The judge, in his sentencing noted he wanted to send Laurin to prison for life, but was unable to due to precedent.
So far this may sound like a news article, but it is not.
Wayne Rinas was my daughter's father-in-law, and my daughter and her husband had just started to get to know him.
The real question behind the light sentence is simple, and one that Families for Justice has raised: why and how can a drunk driver get away with murder and only serve three years when the victim's family has to live with the consequences for the rest of theirs?
Why, in the case of Rinas, were two charges that accurately depicted MacLaurin's actions dropped and victim impact statements ignored?
What kind of message is the justice system sending to society and families who have to live with the consequences of one's decision to drive while under the influence?
Is the message one of prohibitive punishment or one of precedential wrist slapping?
Even if a judge sentenced a drunk driver to life in prison, would the court of appeal hold up the standard?
Unfortunately, I suspect a life sentence would quickly be turned into an embarrassing six-month penalty.
When a bad decision results in the death of someone there should be a suitable punishment. In other “less civilized” countries, drunk driving is punished severely, sometimes by death. That's prohibitive.
In the courtroom, families of loved ones taken away by drunk drivers should be able to express their impact statements, and to have the accused be sentenced to the full extent of the law, not the least.
Marilyn Rinas and her family and those across Canada who have lost family members deserve to be treated with dignity and fairness in the courtrooms of our land.
