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NOTES FOR A STATEMENT BY THE HONORABLE R. ROY MCMURTRY First I would like to make some comments on this first report of the task force. You may recall that the Premier asked me last September to establish this Task Force of eight ministers in response to 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, concerned individuals. I believe this report is valuable for both its contents and perhaps as important, for its timing. For as long as our society has had the automobile, it has also had the problem of drinking and driving. Despite the best efforts to search for solutions, despite the dedicated law enforcement campaigns, the number of injuries and deaths caused by drinking drivers grew year after year until now when it accounts for more than 50 per cent of all driver deaths. As the Premier has done, let me give you some statistics. Every single day in this province alcohol is involved in the deaths of two people and in 81 motor vehicle collisions. 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 30 years old. Late at night on our roadways, one out of every eight drivers has been drinking. There can be no question in anyone's mind that the tragedy caused by drinking and driving in our society is simply unacceptable. Surely none of us is willing to tolerate the enormous waste in lives and human potential that is coldly evident in the statistics gathered by the Task Force. I am personally appalled by these figures. I want to emphasize what the Premier made clear in his statement earlier today: This Government is committed to making the tragic consequences of drinking and driving a thing of the past rather than a fear for the future. Specifically, I am announcing that the Government has adopted the major proposals of the Task Force. First, we are establishing, under the leadership of Jim Erskine, a small unit within the Ministry of the Attorney General. I has three main tasks: To provide a two-way link between government and community groups: to co-ordinate various government, community and private sector efforts to combat drinking and driving: To stimulate grass-roots campaigns to fight drinking and driving by bringing about an evolution of community attitudes. Second, we intend to hold a working seminar as early as possible this fall. Its purpose will be to take an inventory of existing efforts, of which there are many, and to foster interest among municipal officials and organizations in undertaking a program in their community. Third, the Government intends to participate in several of these community projects to help monitor them and to develop research on the most effective approaches. What is good for a major urban area may not work in a small town or rural area or remote community. The challenge is to see what works best where. The budget for this effort will be determined by Cabinet in a few weeks. I can tell you now, however, that we do not plan any lavish big-buck, glossy approach. We will be trying to stimulate community initiatives, to reply on community expertise and commitment. We will be challenging community and municipal leaders to come up with effective campaigns for their own areas. Most important of all, we will be counting on the evolution of public attitudes. In recent day I have met with the best experts on this matter, including scientists, researchers, police and representatives of the Citizens' Action Movement. From these meetings, one thing above all else is abundantly clear: Our society finally appears ready to begin changing its attitude towards drinking and driving. The experts believe that we are at a turning point in this regard that is perhaps similar to the changes in the past decade which made physical fitness a commendable goal and smoking a habit of the past for millions of Canadians. Today, we are witnesses to a similar uprising in public attitude toward the issue of drinking and driving. The message is being published steadily on the front pages of every newspaper. It is being heard from our radios and televisions: most important, it is being preached in the home of our citizens. The message is clear: Drinking and Driving is a hostile act, threatening the lives and well-being of our families and friends: We will no longer tolerate a "Good Time Charlie" who hops behind the wheel to weave his way toward home. The recognition is now with us. In large part through the efforts of citizens groups such as PRIDE, that we must rid ourselves of this affliction and we must do it now. The report of the Task Force summarizes from around the world efforts to combat drinking and driving - efforts that, unfortunately, have failed to produce a sustained decrease in alcohol related collisions. Part of the reason for these failures is that, up until now, we have been too quick to look to our police and our legislators and our courts for a solution to a problem that is social, not legal. We set out on this campaign knowing a t the star that there is no pat answer, no easy, overnight solution. Send site related comments to: Karen Mitchell
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