Premier Davis's Letter

STATEMENT BY PREMIER WILLIAM G. DAVIS

Release of Discussion Paper

from

PREMIER'S INTERMINISTRY TASK FORCE

ON DRINKING AND DRIVING

September 1, 1983

I am pleased to release today the first report from the staff committee of the Premier's Interministry Task Force on Drinking and Driving.

This is the first in a series of reports designed to inform the public about this distressing problem and to help point the way to methods of alleviating it.

You may recall that I asked the Attorney General in September to establish this Task Force o Eight Ministers in response to the Requests from concerned Ontario citizens, particularly the group known as PRIDE, PEOPLE TO REDUCE IMPAIRED DRIVING EVERYWHERE.� Since then, the staff committee of the Task Force has gathered information from across Canada and throughout the world to help us map out the best strategy to combat this problem by involving community organizations, local governments, law enforcement agencies and, of course, individuals.

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For this Government this issue is a top priority that demands an imaginative and co-operative effort on the part of all our citizens.

The scope of the tragedy cause by drinking and driving in this society is simply unacceptable.� WE cannot tolerate the enormous waste in lives and human potential that is coldly evident in the statistics gathered by the Task Force.

The grim fact is that everyday in this province alcohol is involved in the deaths of two people and 81 motor vehicle crashes.� At least half of all drivers killed each year had been drinking.� Traffic accidents are the fourth leading cause of death in Canada and the number one killer of people under the age of 30. � Late at night on our roadways one of every eight drivers has been drinking. � In 1981, 45,910 drivers were convicted of drinking and driving offences.

Drinking and driving, as the report makes clear, is a deeply rooted social and legal problem.� The solution is not just increase law enforcement, or better public education, or stiffer penalties from the courts, or changes in laws.

The gains we make in this campaign will come only when we have a concerted effort in all these areas and when the people of Ontario decide that drinking and driving is no longer tolerable behavior.

When we come to view the combination of alcohol abuse and automobiles as a hostile act, threatening the lives and well-being of our families and friends then, and only then will we rid ourselves of this affliction.

The government has endorsed with enthusiasm and conviction key recommendations of the report.

I am delighted to announce that we have secured the services of one of our most experienced and dedicated public officials to head up this new effort. � Commissioner James Erskine whose term as OPP Commissioner expires September 30th will be in charge of a permanent special unit to stimulate and co-ordinate all efforts in this regard.� The unit will report directly to the Attorney-General.

I ask today that the citizens of Ontario join together to make this campaign against drinking and driving the last campaign of its kind.

WE can make Ontario's roads the safest in the world.� But we have to work together and we have to start today.