In Ontario, there have been times — most recently in 2011 — where police have laid charges for impaired paddling, but prosecutors later withdrew the charge. At the very least, case law tells us this: Until Sillars, nobody had ever contested impaired paddling charges in court. Bill C-46 consisted of tough new impaired driving legislation brought in to coincide with the legalization of marijuana. “The reasoning was that the criminal law (on impaired driving) was aimed at those who were endangering the public,” said Greg Yost, department counsel for criminal law policy. The Sillars case was tried in Ontario provincial court, meaning its interpretation of impaired driving law is not binding and could be overturned by higher courts.

Source: National Post June 28, 2019 11:01 UTC