Belligerently Innocent

"(I) spoke with (arresting officer) Const. Shelrud and he mentioned driver had locked himself in car and would not co-operate and would not open door."
Sgt. Conrad Moschansky

Driver in question an Alberta Member of Parliament.  Who preferred to lock himself securely into the confines and comfort of his personal vehicle rather than face the Edmonton police officer who saw him exit a pub and get behind the wheel of his car.  And, since most provinces have a law that prohibits that kind of anti-social and potentially dangerous behaviour, the police officer approached the vehicle, asking Peter Goldring to exit.

This was after a riding Christmas party.  "He (the officer) informed me we had a member of Parliament under arrest and he was being belligerent", Sg. Moschansky explained when he was being questioned by Mr. Goldring's lawyer at a pre-trial hearing in provincial court.  As the police sergeant  approached the MP's car "The window came down four inches and we engaged in conversation".

Said conversation concluded with the Member of Parliament for Edmonton-East being charged on one count of failing to provide a breathalyzer sample as required by law.  The trial is scheduled for January 16.  The defendant will assert as his defence that police unfairly targeted him and his vehicle. 

During a Checkstop crackdown, as it happened, a police exercise designed to weed out potential DUIs.

To make the roads and highways safer, you know?  To try to avert fatal accidents where people driving under the influence are responsible for the death or maiming of another driver, a pedestrian, a bicyclist, that sort of thing.  This is what we expect of our police, to help make our communities safer. 

This is also what we expect of an elected official, but sometimes we are disappointed.

MP Goldring is loudly critical of random breathalyzer checks and particularly also of such exercises as Checkstops.  Exercises mounted to teach the public at large that drinking and driving is a dangerous enterprise, and it will not be tolerated by law enforcement agencies.  The public insists on no less.

Here's a puzzle: Mr. Goldring claims to support cracking down on drinking and driving.  Random checks with no 'reasonable grounds for search', however, infringe on civil liberties according to his reasoning process.  Const. Shelrud earlier testified he made the decision to pull Mr. Goldring over when he witnessed him driving out of a bar parking lot.

Mr. Goldring, he said, was "belligerent", seated in his vehicle, while a "strong smell" of alcohol was readily apparent.  He informed the officer that he was a Member of Parliament.  And tried, according to Const. Shelrud to "negotiate his way out of it." 

And he's still trying.