e-3162 (Justice)

The Government of Canada is committed to ensuring the safety of the roads and highways, which is why, in 2018, new legislation was passed to strengthen the criminal laws around impaired and dangerous driving. The legislation streamlined and simplified applicable offences, and street racing is now properly considered under the offence of dangerous driving and is also considered as an aggravating factor for the purposes of sentencing.

There are currently very serious penalties for criminal driving offences. For instance, the maximum penalties for impaired driving causing bodily harm and dangerous driving causing bodily harm are 14 years’ imprisonment if the Crown proceeds by indictment. In addition, impaired driving causing death and dangerous driving causing death are punishable by up to life imprisonment, which is the most serious penalty in Canadian criminal law. The Government is confident that existing sentencing laws provide courts with the ability to impose appropriate penalties in dangerous and impaired driving cases.

Issues such as vehicle impoundment and licence suspension are more appropriately addressed by provincial and territorial governments under their constitutional authority over highways and driver licensing.

The Parole Board of Canada makes conditional release decisions and contributes to public safety through the controlled, timed and gradual release of offenders back into society pursuant to the Corrections and Conditional Release Act. In granting parole, the Parole Board must be satisfied that the offender will not present an undue risk to society before the end of the sentence and that the release of the offender will contribute to the protection of society by facilitating the offender’s return to the community as a law-abiding citizen. The protection of society is the paramount consideration in all Parole Board decisions.