Impaired Driving & Grad Season

MPP Stephen Blais calls on all of us to remind young people that there is always a safer way home.

Ontario is grieving. Last week, a senseless act of impaired driving shattered a family and devastated a community. Three young children were killed when an allegedly impaired driver collided with their vehicle. Their lives were stolen in an instant. No words can capture the weight of that loss.

But this tragedy is not isolated. Impaired driving is on the rise across our province. The OPP laid over 11,500 impaired driving charges last year — over 2 years there has been a 35% increase.

These are not just statistics — they are shattered lives, grieving parents, and empty classrooms.

And now, as GRAD season begins across Ontario, the stakes are even higher. For many students, this is a milestone moment — a celebration of achievement, friendship, and growing up. But one bad decision can turn that celebration into a tragedy.

We all have a role to play — as parents, teachers, neighbours, and friends — in reminding young people that there are always options: call a parent, order an uber, stay the night.

There is always a safer way home.

As legislators, we must ask: are we doing enough? Are the penalties strong enough? Are we reaching young drivers before it's too late?

I know I will be spending part of my summer pondering these questions and how this place might be able to take stronger action.

We need a culture where getting behind the wheel impaired isn’t just illegal — it’s unthinkable. We must do better.