This Week’s Highlights
- New Amendments
- Faulty Declarations
- Lawyer’s Corner (tip)
1. Legislative Scheme
This week, new materials were added to the SafeRoads Library. The updates concern error messages on the FST and the effect of vaping, Ketoacidosis, and Gastroesophageal disease on alcohol testing.
See https://saferoads.alberta.ca/technical-material
2. SafeRoads Alberta Review
Don’t forget to check the declaration “SDD” forms dates. A declaration cannot be signed before a document is authored. As obvious as this sounds, the rationale is in the plain wording of section 17 of the PAPR (Provincial Offences Procedure Regulation) at
https://www.canlii.org/en/ab/laws/regu/alta-reg-217-2020/latest/alta-reg-217-2020.html
“Where any report … is created, registered issued or transmitted by electronic means for any purpose … an officer may confirm the report, notes or other documents by signing a statement that the contents of the statement is true …
The regulation states. “Where any report … is created … an officer may confirm the report … [by signing a declaration]. The legislation requires the declaration to be signed after the report is done, not before.
Cases in support of this are: In Brandon v BC 2017 BCSC 296, a judicial review confirmed that a declaration cannot be signed first, see paras 8, 12, 13, 14.
A peace officer is swearing to the truthfulness of the report before he has prepared the report. In Brandon, the court held that this type of violation affects the integrity of the whole of the evidence.
Likewise, a recent Alberta Saferoads decision supports R’s position. (Re) Kailey, C0040463A, November 7, 2025.
3. Lawyer’s Corner
When the government says that the mouth alcohol (from a burp or Gastroesophageal disease (GERD)) will dissipate in 15 minutes, it is worth noting that this assumes a person only burps once. What about multiple burps over an extended period of time?
Bonus Resources
- SafeRoads Alberta Portal: https://saferoads.alberta.ca
- Alberta Government – Impaired Driving Laws: https://www.alberta.ca/impaired-driving
- CanLII: Key Impaired Driving Cases in Alberta: https://www.canlii.org
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