The Ford government says it is working on new measures which could force impaired drivers who are found guilty of killing a parent or guardian to pay “ongoing” child support.
The suggestion was dropped unexpectedly on Tuesday morning and will be part of the “narrative” rolled out with the upcoming justice legislation, but the government won’t table concrete plans in the near future.
The province teased the idea of copying a 2023 Texas law, which means drivers convicted of “intoxication manslaughter” who killed a child’s parent or guardian must pay child support until they turn 18 or graduate from high school.
So far, Attorney General Doug Downey has offered few details of how the new rules would work. The government said it was “developing” the rules and would be “exploring” the best way to introduce the change.
It’s unclear when internal discussions of the idea began or when they could lead to meaningful policy.
“We’re actively engaged already, we put the news release out to say we’re bringing legislation next week on a variety of issues, and this will be launched with that bill,” he said. “This will kick-start the discussion to determine exactly how we’re going to do this.”
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The Ford government has previously made changes for those found guilty of impaired driving, including a lifetime driving ban for people found guilty of impaired driving causing death.
Those charged with a first impaired driving offence will have to install an ignition interlock device in their vehicle and go through mandatory training, the province said.
Those changes are already written into legislation, while the idea of making impaired drivers pay child support remains a topic of potential consultation.
“The conversations are happening in real time and I’ll have more to say shortly,” Downey said.
“When a drunk driver takes an innocent life, it imposes a life sentence on the family left behind, especially the children who are suddenly without a parent,” said Minister of Transportation Prabmeet Sarkaria
Separately, since the COVID-19 pandemic, the province has offered deals for those charged with impaired driving offences where there was no damage to people or property.
Downey said his ministry has an “almost zero” tolerance for drunk driving.
“It was a COVID measure to help deal with issues that we were having in that period, and it’s under active review right now,” he said of the policy to downgrade charges.
The rules have been in place since 2021.
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