A proposed amendment to the Ontario Highway Traffic Act
("HTA") calls for heightened penalties for drivers
convicted of offences where injury or death occurs. With the
increased gravamen for these offences, the number of contested
trials involving counsel will surely grow. Further, the evidence
required at trial will, as of necessity, become more complicated
and may come to include medical and expert evidence in cases of
alleged bodily harm, resulting in increased costs to defend these
charges.
In a move reminiscent of the Harper government's "tough
on crime" agenda, the provincial government has taken the
first steps to amend the HTA to impose mandatory minimum sentences
for driving offences which result in death or bodily harm. Bill 174
calls for the mandatory imposition of a $1,000 to $10,000 fine, or
six-month prison sentence, or both, for a contravention of Part X
of the HTA where death or bodily harm ensues.1 The Bill,
which passed through its first and second
