RCMP
RCMP

(By Jill Drews) The provincial government has quietly cancelled over 50 roadside suspensions after learning RCMP had been using incorrect gas to calibrate their breathalyzers.

It’s policy that they use certified gas and they were not.

These details were obtained through a Freedom of Information request.

It’s 70 pages of correspondence between staff with the Ministry of Justice and the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles, discussing how they will tell the people affected and what the minister should say to the media if asked.

It includes a copy of the letter sent to 39 drivers in Tofino and 13 more in Vernon who had their roadside suspensions cancelled.

It also shows the province sent a second letter, detailing the reimbursement those affected received for fines and fees for the remedial programs they had to pay. The total amount the government paid out has been redacted.

It seems based on these emails, the BC government’s strategy was to reinforce how small the number of affected drivers is.

Paul Doroshenko, the lawyer who made the request, believes these cases are just a handful of examples of a bigger problem.

“The only reason it’s happening is because we started poking around and they’ve realized that they’ve got a problem and realized, ‘Oh my goodness, this is a bigger problem.’ The government’s been doing everything to keep this in the can,” he tells us.

He argues there’s no reason to believe these are the only cases.

“They say that they’re doing an audit around the province. I would imagine that this gas has been used — I know that it’s been used — in other detachments. I know for a fact that it was used in Chilliwack. I know for a fact that it was used in Comox,” claims Doroshenko.