Over the Edge + October 20, 2010 B.C’s Impared Driving Legislation Toughest in Canada Students have mixed feelings about harsh new laws EMILY LANG NEXUS VICTORIA (CUP) — British Columbia’s new impaired-driving legislation makes the province’s rules the strictest in the country. The legislation, which was passed on April 27, came into effect on Sept. 20. Under the new rules, British Columbians who fail or refuse a breath sample test will face an immediate 90-day driving ban, a series of fines and fees totaling almost $4,000, have their vehicle impounded for 30 days and could face criminal charges. Drivers who test close to the legal blood- alcohol limit of 0.08 per cent, but not higher are facing increased consequences as well. “The criminal process that we’ve had in the past wasn’t working,” explained Sgt. Glenn Vermette of the Victoria Police Department. “It’s heavily laden with legal arguments and it takes far too long for the process to play out. Typically, an impaired driver that has been arrested and charged criminally rarely saw the inside of a courtroom for a better part of a year, if ever.” But not everyone is happy about the recent legislation. In fact, some think higher fines are going too far. “The fines are overkill,” said Jessica Williams, a student at Camosun College in Victoria. “Governments and police forces should focus on educating the public rather than fining people.” And while some students might be grumbling about the harsher laws, Vermette is tired of people who say the new enforcements are too strict. “The thing that quickly changes people’s behaviour is swift monetary penalties, where people have to pay money out of their own pocket and are losing their vehicle,” he said. But, not everyone disagrees with the new rules. Camosun student Chelsea Cooper is one of those people. “A person who decides to drink behind the wheel is putting many lives at stake and this issue needs to be put to rest for good.” Penalties for excessive speeding also came into effect on Sept. 20. Anyone caught driving 40 kilometres over the speed limit will see their vehicle impounded for seven days and receive a substantial speeding ticket. “Excessive speeding is not a mistake, it’s a choice,” said Vermette. “It’s a criminal behaviour that puts everybody at risk.” Vermette wants to remind people that impaired drivers should expect zero tolerance. “The public’s tolerance for drinking and driving and excessive speeding has hit rock bottom,” he said. “It’s our job to make our streets as safe as possible for people.” SHELBY PETERSEN Indulging in a brewski before you head to the game could cost you the big bucks High Ranking Canadian Colonel Pleads Guilty to Murder Col. Russel Williams finally pleads guilty to mudering two Ontario women ONLINE SOURCE A courtroom drawing of Williams leaves little to the imagination. Innocent people do not scowel so menacingly. HANNA PETERSEN NEWS EDITOR We've all seen CSI, Criminal Minds, or Law and Order. We know how the story goes: the guy whose least suspected is always the guilty party. This fictionalized plot line has even held true when applied to the recent arrest and trial of Col. Russell Williams. Williams served as the commander for air base CFB Trenton in Ontario until he was arrested in February of this year for a multitude of heinous crimes. Williams was one of Canada’s highest ranking military commanders who had frequently met with various politicians and was a knowledgeable voice on the war in Afghanistan, until his recent arrest which understandably ended his 23- year- long military career. Williams was charged with the murder of two women, Jessica Lloyd,27, and Cpl. Marie- France Comeau,38. He was also charges with forcible confinement and two counts of breaking and entering and sexual assault in relation to two home invasions. The whole story started back in 2006, when a series of mysterious burglaries began in Williams’ two neighbourhoods. Then the crimes began escalading when in September 2009 two women in the area was sexually assaulted in their homes. On November 25, Cpl. Comeau is found murdered in her home and only two months later Jessica Lloyd goes missing. In February, Williams is finally arrested and leads Ontario police to the location of Jessica Lloyds body. In April of 2010 it is released that Williams is charged with 82 more offences including 61 counts of breaking and entering and theft, 11 counts of attempted breaking and entering, and 10 counts of breaking and entering with intent to commit an indictable offence. When searching his home, investigators found hundred of pairs of women’s lingerie that had been neatly stored and catalogued. Ontario Provincial Police were only able to pin point Williams as a suspect by matching distinctive tire tracks left near Jessica Lloyd’s home to Williams’ Nissian Pathfinder. Williams usually drove a BMW but happened to be driving his Pathfinder when detectives were looking for the unusual tire tread and spotted his car. On October 7, Russell Williams made his first appearance before a judge where his lawyer announced that Williams intended to plead guilty to the murder, sexual assault, and breaking and entering charges he faces. However, the investigation into one of Canada’s former military authorities does not end here. Cold-cases that occurred in areas where Russell Williams may have had access too throughout the years are now being re-opened. During his military career Williams has been posted to many cities inside and outside Canada, thus investigators are now re-examining unsolved cases in such areas. A particular case that is again being investigated is the 2001 murder of a Nova Scotia woman at CFB Trenton. Kathleen MacVicar, 19, had been sexually assaulted and stabbed at the CFB Trenton base in June of 2001.