Police planning to be out in full force over Canada Day Long Weekend

Jun 30, 2023 | 5:00 PM

It’s safe to say that people will see quite a few police officers on the road this Canada Day long weekend.

City police forces and RCMP will be out in full force in an attempt to catch people who may be driving impaired.

“The amount of cars on the road is more than double, so the safety risk for anyone travelling on the road increases greatly,” said Sgt. Jeremy Knodel with the Combined Traffic Services Saskatchewan (CTSS) Prince Albert unit.

This is backed up by numbers from the RCMP. During and leading up to the last public holiday in Saskatchewan, Victoria Day, Mounties handed out over 130 impaired-related tickets. This was the second-highest total over a seven-day period the RCMP has so far experienced in 2023.

So far this year, over 2,200 impaired-related offences have been issued by RCMP. This does not include data from local police services like those in Prince Albert, Saskatoon, and Regina. On average, this amounts to around 12 a day.