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This enactment amends the Criminal Code by increasing the
maximum penalty for impaired driving causing death to life
imprisonment, providing for the taking of blood samples for the
purpose of testing for the presence of a drug and making other
amendments.
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Clause 1: The definition ``motor vehicle'' in section
2 reads as follows:
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``motor vehicle'' means a vehicle that is drawn, propelled or driven by
any means other than muscular power, but does not include railway
equipment;
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Clause 2: Subsection 255(3) reads as follows:
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(3) Every one who commits an offence under paragraph 253(a) and
thereby causes the death of any other person is guilty of an indictable
offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen
years.
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Clause 3: Subsection 256(1) reads as follows:
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256. (1) Subject to subsection (2), where a justice is satisfied, on an
information on oath in Form 1 or on an information on oath submitted
to the justice pursuant to section 487.1 by telephone or other means of
telecommunication, that there are reasonable grounds to believe that
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(a) a person has, within the preceding four hours, committed, as a
result of the consumption of alcohol, an offence under section 253
and the person was involved in an accident resulting in the death of
another person or in bodily harm to himself or herself or to any other
person, and
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(b) a qualified medical practitioner is of the opinion that
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(i) by reason of any physical or mental condition of the person
that resulted from the consumption of alcohol, the accident or any
other occurrence related to or resulting from the accident, the
person is unable to consent to the taking of samples of his blood,
and
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(ii) the taking of samples of blood from the person would not
endanger the life or health of the person,
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the justice may issue a warrant authorizing a peace officer to require a
qualified medical practitioner to take, or to cause to be taken by a
qualified technician under the direction of the qualified medical
practitioner, such samples of the blood of the person as in the opinion
of the person taking the samples are necessary to enable a proper
analysis to be made in order to determine the concentration, if any, of
alcohol in his blood.
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Clause 4: The relevant portion of section 553 reads as
follows:
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553. The jurisdiction of a provincial court judge, or in Nunavut, of
a judge of the Nunavut Court of Justice, to try an accused is absolute and
does not depend on the consent of the accused where the accused is
charged in an information
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(c) with an offence under
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(vii) subsection 259(4) (driving while disqualified),
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