Public Safety First
As though drivers suspected of being under the influence of alcohol, pulled over on the highway, having tickets written, or being asked to provide a breathalyzer test don't have enough evasive tactics at their disposal thanks to the sharp work of lawyers anxious to prove their mettle in upsetting the law and getting their clients off the hook, in New Brunswick there's another handle for the guilty to pull.
Since the province is the only one that officially practises legally-binding bilingualism, it's become a handy hook to excuse DUI if police officers are not sufficiently alert to the language issue and its manipulation. Those police officers whose first language is English and who automatically resort to English and address a francophone in that language open the door for those whom they charge to walk away.
Infuriatingly enough, those whose first language is French, and who would, under other circumstances, insist on being addressed in French, their legal rights recounted to them in French, although they have perfect understanding of English, are also able to insist that they were not offered a choice of language, as is required by law. Failure to enquire as to their preference although the response would seem logical enough, results in English suddenly becoming attractive to them.
Police in New Brunswick must comply with the Official Languages Act, which insists that they must make an active offer to relay information to the accused in either official language, without delay, and not as an afterthought. To do otherwise is to risk the real possibility of the case being dismissed and the presiding justice rapping their metaphorical knuckles.
A judge rejected an argument by a francophone drunk driver arguing violation of his rights under the law when a Crown prosecutor asked that a bail hearing be adjourned as he did not speak French. While, on the other hand, a court acquitted a francophone on the basis of his not having been given the option of being arrested in English.
Two drunk driving charges were tossed out of a New Brunswick appellate court last week when an Acadian francophone, pulled over at a roadside check in Fredericton was spoken to by the police officer in English, even though he failed the roadside breathalyzer test. The police officer did recall his obligation to offer to have a bilingual officer read the man his rights.
Too late; 30 minutes had elapsed before the critical acknowledgment of language preference was made, representing a violation of the right to timely service in the language of choice. And then there's the case of a former New Brunswick economic development minister, Paul Robichaud, who, in 2009, appealed a speeding ticket he received by an RCMP officer who addressed him in French.
This was the mother tongue of both Mr. Robichaud and the RCMP officer, but the tactic of calling up the language option was a shamelessly successful ploy on Mr. Robichaud's part, to evade responsibility. Official bilingualism has become a legal loophole used by conscienceless malefactors to evade serious criminal charges.
Since the province is the only one that officially practises legally-binding bilingualism, it's become a handy hook to excuse DUI if police officers are not sufficiently alert to the language issue and its manipulation. Those police officers whose first language is English and who automatically resort to English and address a francophone in that language open the door for those whom they charge to walk away.
Infuriatingly enough, those whose first language is French, and who would, under other circumstances, insist on being addressed in French, their legal rights recounted to them in French, although they have perfect understanding of English, are also able to insist that they were not offered a choice of language, as is required by law. Failure to enquire as to their preference although the response would seem logical enough, results in English suddenly becoming attractive to them.
Police in New Brunswick must comply with the Official Languages Act, which insists that they must make an active offer to relay information to the accused in either official language, without delay, and not as an afterthought. To do otherwise is to risk the real possibility of the case being dismissed and the presiding justice rapping their metaphorical knuckles.
A judge rejected an argument by a francophone drunk driver arguing violation of his rights under the law when a Crown prosecutor asked that a bail hearing be adjourned as he did not speak French. While, on the other hand, a court acquitted a francophone on the basis of his not having been given the option of being arrested in English.
Two drunk driving charges were tossed out of a New Brunswick appellate court last week when an Acadian francophone, pulled over at a roadside check in Fredericton was spoken to by the police officer in English, even though he failed the roadside breathalyzer test. The police officer did recall his obligation to offer to have a bilingual officer read the man his rights.
Too late; 30 minutes had elapsed before the critical acknowledgment of language preference was made, representing a violation of the right to timely service in the language of choice. And then there's the case of a former New Brunswick economic development minister, Paul Robichaud, who, in 2009, appealed a speeding ticket he received by an RCMP officer who addressed him in French.
This was the mother tongue of both Mr. Robichaud and the RCMP officer, but the tactic of calling up the language option was a shamelessly successful ploy on Mr. Robichaud's part, to evade responsibility. Official bilingualism has become a legal loophole used by conscienceless malefactors to evade serious criminal charges.
"This only makes New Brunswick roads less safe and more open for drunk drivers than the rest of Canada. I don't think that's what the people of New Brunswick want. At some point, you have to put public safety first." Andrew Murie, head of MADD Canada.
Labels: Canada, Culture, Justice, Politics of Convenience
posted by Pieface | 6:17 PM
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