Not all impaired drivers complete rehab course

In the last six years, 27 per cent of convicted impaired drivers in P.E.I. did not complete a driver rehabilitation program.

The program, offered by the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, is required before impaired drivers have their license reinstated. First-time offenders are required to take a threehour course involving films, discussions and written assignments.

According to figures tabled by the Department of Transportation in the legislature on March 13, 2024, 1,566 people were convicted of impaired driving between 2018 and 2023. Of these, 429 – or 27 per cent – did not complete the program.

However, the department does not have data about how many people who completed the program had their licenses reinstated. In response to a question posed by PC MLA Sidney Macewen, the department said reinstatements could happen after a conviction from several years past. As such, the department said data about license reinstatements from those who completed the driver rehabilitation program is "not available."

Since the start of 2024,19 people in P.E.I. have been convicted of impaired driving.

Following is the number of people who completed the driver rehabilitation program since 2018: 2018 - 174; 2019 - 192; 2020 - 185; 2021 - 219; 2022 - 160; 2023 - 203.

Heavy drinking 'stable' on P.E.I.

Figures presented to Saltwire by P.E.I.'S chief public health office indicate that the population reporting heavy drinking in P.E.I. has been stable since 2015.

In an email, the CPHO referred to Statistics Canada's Canadian Community Health Survey, which tracks rates of heavy drinking across the country.

Between 2015 and 2021, the percentage of the population who reported heavy drinking in P.E.I. ranged between a low of 16.7 per cent and a high of 20.8 per cent.

But overall, the CPHO noted that the percentage of P.E.I. residents who drank heavily was "stable" and that the differences from year to year were "not statistically significant."

The survey defines heavy drinking as a male older than 12 who had at least five drinks on one occasion each month or a woman older than 12 who had at least four drinks on one occasion each month.

Similarly, the percentage of the population reporting daily cannabis use has not changed significantly between 2018 and 2023.

Citing the Canadian Cannabis Survey, the CPHO said the percentage of daily cannabis users in the province was 7 per cent in 2023, a level that was virtually "unchanged" from the 6 per cent reported in 2018.

Woman charged with impaired driving

A 19-year-old woman is facing impaired driving charges after police pulled her over in Charlottetown on March 17.

Around 2:30 a.m., Charlottetown Police Services said an officer stopped a vehicle on Riverside Drive for driving without any tail lights on.

The officer determined the driver was showing signs of alcohol impairment, leading to her arrest after she provided breath samples allegedly above the legal limit.

The accused has been charged with impaired driving and will appear in provincial court at a later date.