Out of curiosity I am wondering whether anyone here is from Maui, or if anyone has heard about the premier of British Columbia (Canada) being arrested for drinking and driving in Maui.

He claimed he had only had 3 martinis and a couple of glasses of wine, but he was weaving all over the road, crossed the centre line and into the bike path, and lost his balance when he got out of his car. Apparently he reeked of alcohol.

Here's the kicker. He apologized in a lovely well-written speech on TV, but when questioned afterwards whether he considered himself a criminal, he said several times that he had not broken any of B.C.'s laws. Up here drinking and driving is a criminal offense, not a misdemeanor.

Now that says to me that he considers it less serious that he drove under the influence while in Maui than if he had done it at home.

He also said that since he did this on his personal time that it should not reflect on his job as premier.

So I'm curious about what anybody else thinks about this, especially anyone from Maui or elsewhere in the U.S.

Personally I think you should get jail time for a first DUI conviction. Unfortunately in most states you get community service and a fine.

Gordon Campbell.. grrr..... Burn him at the stake.

LOL Djinn... at least someone knew what I was talking about.

All I can say is if it was some American governor who had done that up here, I'd be mighty ticked at similar comments.

I take it you're not a 'Liberal' fan (talk about a misnomer).

No i am definetly not a Liberal fan.. total misnomer Canadian political labels have compared to our southern friends..

3 Martini's and a couple glasses of wine will put anyone well over the DWI limit unless it's over a very long period of time. I dunno about weaving though... maybe he was partaking of things that aren't detected by a breathalyzer. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Unforutnatly the rules are very specific...He's a diplomat and can't be touched. The worst that can happen is that he will be sent home. A few years ago some Arab kid killed a woman in DC and he was the son of a diplomat. All that happened was he was sent home.

This isn't nessacarily true, the country that the diplomat is in can ask that the person be handed over or at least tried in their own country. A Russian diplomat was drinking and driving up here and killed a pedestrian and her dog. Their was an uproar that he was going to get away with it as the Russian government would not hand him over. They tried him in their own country and the Russian judge found him guilty, now instead of spending 5 years in a Canadian country club he is doing 5 years in a siberian prison camp. He was better off letting us handle him but the guy actually thought his country would let him off the hook.

Actually in this case I don't think he's considered a diplomat, at least not officially. Perhaps because he's not representing the country, only the province?

In any case, to his credit (and there is very little I'll ever give him credit for) he is NOT contesting the charges. He is quite willing to pay whatever penalty is deemed fair.

By the way, considering he blew .149 over an hour after he was stopped, it sure looks like he had a LOT more than six drinks.

I guess what I was wondering was, as Americans, would you say that you would still welcome him in your country? Could he still represent our province in talks with the US or is his credibility and moral character shot in your eyes?

Canadian politics at it's best, folks! Well, at least Chretien does his drinking in private. I wonder when Campbell is going to lobby to make drinking and driving legal?