Northern_Piper:
Interesting. Based on Oakminster ’s summary, I conclude that this is an area where the Canadian right to counsel appears to be stronger than in the US. Here, when the individual is taken to the police depot, before they can be required to blow, they must be given the opportunity to consult counsel. If they’ve not been advised of the right to counsel, or not given the opportunity to consult counsel (by telephone, in private), then there’s a very good likelihood that the the results of the breath test would be excluded in the charge of over .08.
The Crown could still use the evidence of bad driving to support the impaired driving charge, since that occurred independently of the deprivation of counsel, but the impaired charge is usually harder to prove than the .08 charge.
Correct. In the US, you have no right to counsel before giving the breath test at the station. You have already “consented” to the test by receiving your driver’s license.