EDMONTON - Edmonton East MP Peter Goldring says he will plead not guilty to the charge of failing to provide a breath sample to police in December and insists he was not drunk at the time.
“Although I was not impaired by alcohol, the police officer demanded I provide a roadside breath sample at the time because I admitted to having recently consumed a very small amount of alcohol,” Goldring told media at Edmonton’s courthouse. “One beer.
“The police had the opportunity to charge me with impaired. They did not. There’s no suggestion of impairment here.”
He said he would provide the reason for his refusal to take a breathalyzer only when his case comes to court. Goldring said he is confident his constituents will understand once they hear the reasons.
“I only ask that I not be judged until such time that I am provided the opportunity to present my case in the trial of this matter,” he said. “Simply put, I was not under the influence of any alcohol or intoxicating substances. I look forward to the opportunity to present my side of the story to court.”
Goldring and his lawyer Dino Bottos appeared Wednesday at Edmonton’s courthouse to set a future court date. The case was deferred for three weeks so that Goldring can be provided with disclosure from the Crown prosecutor’s office, a common practice.
Goldring said he will never again drive after drinking even one beer.
“We hear, for example, from MADD, they say go ahead and have one drink with your dinner or have two drinks with your dinner. They are wrong. This is obviously an important message to put out to the public. This is to help them, so people do not fall into situations they do not expect or understand.”
Goldring called it a learning experience and said he “fully intends to make lemonade out of these lemons.”
The member of parliament said he attends many events and relies upon his wife as a designated driver should he drink. However, he said, he “felt very comfortable driving home” on the night in question.
He withdrew from the Conservative caucus after being charged Dec. 4 on his way home from a fundraiser.
“I stepped outside, I didn’t resign, I stepped outside temporarily from the caucus because I have no wish for this to impact on the Conservative caucus whatsoever.”
Goldring, who has represented Edmonton East since 1997, hadn’t spoken publicly about the incident before Wednesday. He admitted that the charge has already damaged his reputation and career.
“Undoubtedly,” he said. “Of course everyone is looking at this. It’s been terrible.”
He earlier announced he would sit in Parliament as a civil libertarian. He has now rescinded that label because he was unaware there was a political party with the same name. On Wednesday, he referred to himself as an independent.
Goldring would not comment directly on how the charge might influence his decision on whether to run for office again, but strongly hinted he may not.
“I’ve been elected six times. I’m 67 years old. My understanding is we have a majority government for three, four years. You judge yourself whether I should really be running at the age of 71. I’m not making that decision right now.”
The trial is likely six months away, Bottos said.
No comments:
Post a Comment