Influencing those who drive under the influence

Page 9

If there was a murderer loose in Canada who was killing five people every single day, year after year, the public would be outraged and terrified.

Many people, however, are still failing to take impaired driving seriously, despite the fact that it kills 4.5 people and seriously injures about 125 people each day in this country, according to statistics compiled by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Canada.

Debbie John of Kehewin is definitely not one of those people. Although the project is on hold because of other commitments right now, John recently began organizing a chapter of MADD in her community. It would be the first Aboriginal chapter of MADD in Alberta.

She said impaired driving is an issue she simply couldn't ignore. "I am a mother of two kids, and it is a concern for me that people are out there drinking and driving.

"Although nothing has happened to me personally, there's a lot of alcohol abuse, and it's a very real danger that these people are driving on our roads. Anyone who has children needs to be concerned."

John is not alone in her apprehension. Nine out of 10 Canadians believe that driving under the influence of alcohol is a major highway safety problem, according to a national survey of 2,000 Canadians conducted by SES Research last spring.

People in Alberta need to be particularly concerned, since more than 40 per cent of all motor vehicle fatalities in this province involved alcohol in 1998, according to Transport Canada-sponsored research.

Canada-wide, drunk drivers hit the roads about 12.5 million times each year. It is obvious that law enforcement simply cannot keep up, since only about 70,000 charges of impaired driving are being laid in any given year.

That's why Clyde Cooke decided it was his responsibility to get involved in preventing these tragedies instead of relying on law enforcement to do it alone.

Cooke founded the Begetekong chapter of MADD near Pic River, Ont. It was the first Aboriginal chapter of MADD in Canada, and about 18 months after it was officially recognized by the parent organization, the chapter is thriving, says Cooke, who is now the chapter president.

There are 10 active members, and Cooke says the chapter is trying to become a model for other Aboriginal communities in Canada. The group was spawned from a group of concerned parents that used to meet regularly as members of Parents Against Substance Abuse.

"Many of our kids play on the roads, and it's a concern that our children can play without being injured or killed by an impaired driver," says Cooke. "I encourage other First Nations people and communities to step forward and do whatever is in their power to help stop impaired driving and help out the victims of these terrible crashes."

Organizations like MADD are attempting to develop more contacts in Aboriginal communities so chapters can be launched by people within them who are already familiar with the people and politics in their own back yard.

"We have quite a number of chapters close to reserves, but very few that are actually on reserves," says Paula-Marie Ferreira, manager of national chapter services. "One of my hopes is that we could bring Aboriginal chapters together so we could put together a strategic plan that would support and encourage other Aboriginal communities to get involved in this issue."

She says it is an issue that leaves very few people untouched. About 50,000 Canadians are affected by impaired drivers in some way every year, she says.

Impaired driving is the single largest criminal cause of death in our country, and the death rate from impaired driving is two to three times the national murder rate.

People like Cooke and John are hoping to slow down what can only be described as an out-of-control killer of Canadians.