Close X
Thursday, November 28, 2024
ADVT 
National

Former Saskatchewan Deputy Premier Pleads Guilty To Drunk Driving

IANS, 07 Sep, 2016 11:20 AM
    REGINA — The former deputy premier of Saskatchewan has pleaded guilty to impaired driving.
     
    Court heard Don McMorris had more than 2 1/2 times the legal blood alcohol limit in his system when he was pulled over by RCMP last month in a construction zone.
     
    Provincial court Judge Barbara Tomkins fined him $1,820 and suspended his licence for one year.
     
    The Crown was asking for a higher fine, but the judge said McMorris showed genuine remorse and that she was impressed by him saying he was ashamed.
     
    She also said he has already lost credibility with the public.
     
    Court heard that McMorris had been drinking while watching a football game and visiting with an old friend the night before he was stopped by police.
     
    McMorris was a key member of Premier Brad Wall's government and oversaw the province's liquor and gaming authority.
     
    He resigned from cabinet after announcing he'd been charged. He also left the Saskatchewan Party's caucus while he dealt with the legal aspects of the matter and to seek counselling.
     
    "I am extremely embarrassed and ashamed of my actions that day," he said Wednesday.
     
    The day after he was charged, he admitted he should never have been behind the wheel after drinking.
     
    "I know better. I absolutely know better. I take responsibility for my actions,'' he said on Aug. 6.
     
    He pointed out that he had indicated many times that drinking and driving is dangerous, which is why the government strengthened laws and penalties to combat it.
     
    "One incident is too many, and I'm that one incident.'
     
    Wall issued a short statement at the time in which he expressed his disappointment with McMorris.
     
    "Drinking and driving risks and ruins lives and is completely unacceptable,'' Wall said.
     
    McMorris was the minister of Crown investments and was also the minister responsible for Saskatchewan Government Insurance, the government's publicly owned automobile insurer.
     
    In May, the insurer launched an ad campaign against impaired driving, which noted that in 2014 there were more than 1,100 collisions where alcohol or drug use were factors, resulting in 61 deaths and 541 injuries.
     
    McMorris was also overseeing a promise by Wall to privatize some liquor sales. The province announced last November that it was selling 40 of its 75 government-owned liquor outlets and adding 12 private retail stores across the province.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Mounties Warn Of Sex Attacks In Burnaby, B.C.

    Police say the attacks occurred between Sept. 1 and Sept. 3 and appear to be related.

    Mounties Warn Of Sex Attacks In Burnaby, B.C.

    Medicare On Trial As Private Vancouver Clinic Challenges Coverage Rules

    Medicare On Trial As Private Vancouver Clinic Challenges Coverage Rules
    VANCOUVER — A lawsuit that begins today in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver has the potential to fundamentally change the way Canadians access health care.

    Medicare On Trial As Private Vancouver Clinic Challenges Coverage Rules

    Government Should Rethink B.C. Post-Secondary Funding: Teachers

    Government Should Rethink B.C. Post-Secondary Funding: Teachers
    VANCOUVER — British Columbia's post-secondary system is in crisis and is failing students by forcing them into careers they may not be suited for, says a group of university and college teachers.

    Government Should Rethink B.C. Post-Secondary Funding: Teachers

    Researchers Uncover Genetic Effects Of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure

      The investigation, led by the University of British Columbia, analyzed DNA samples from 110 children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder across the country.

    Researchers Uncover Genetic Effects Of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure

    Canadian Resident Trapped In Moscow Says Clerical Error Caused Government To Revoke Status

    Canadian Resident Trapped In Moscow Says Clerical Error Caused Government To Revoke Status
    Julia Yakobi says the Aug. 11 decision has left her stranded in her native country without means of returning to the country she now considers home.

    Canadian Resident Trapped In Moscow Says Clerical Error Caused Government To Revoke Status

    Trial Begins For Man Accused In Mill Shooting In Nanaimo, B.C.

    Trial Begins For Man Accused In Mill Shooting In Nanaimo, B.C.
    Michael Lunn and Fred McEachern were both killed when a lone gunman entered the Western Forest Products mill on the morning of April 30, 2014, and started firing his weapon.

    Trial Begins For Man Accused In Mill Shooting In Nanaimo, B.C.