B.C. Liberal MLA Jane Thornthwaite says her toughest apology for drunk driving was to her children.
In an interview today, the backbench government MLA refused to say how much she had to drink when she visited two Olympic pavilion receptions on Monday night. She was distracted because she had lost her Blackberry, she said, but thought she was within the legal driving limit when she departed Russia's Sochi House in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
“I don't really think that is important,” she said when asked, twice, how much alcohol she had consumed.
“What is important is that I had too much. I'm going to change my behaviour in that regard; if I have anything to drink I'm not going to get behind the wheel. I think no alcohol is the rule to go.”
Ms. Thornwaite was caught in a roadside check just on the north side of the Second Narrows Bridge as she returned home around 1 a.m. She was taken to the North Vancouver RCMP detachment where her blood alcohol level was measured at .11 per cent. The legal limit is .08 per cent.
She issued a public apology on Tuesday afternoon, but said the most painful part for her was sitting down her three children, ages 11 to 19, to tell them what she had done.
“The younger one doesn't understand,” she said. “It's very rough for them, and rough for me because I think I've let them down. I've said I'm really sorry, and I hope they'll forgive me.”
Ms. Thornthwaite, the MLA for North Vancouver-Seymour, said she expects to be charged with drunk driving although the incident is still under investigation.
Ron Cantelon, Liberal caucus chair, said earlier the backbench MLA is not likely to face any sanctions from her colleagues.
“She's certainly very sorry,” he said last night. “She didn't tell me much but she let me know it was an imprudent action and one she regrets.”
Ms. Thornthwaite was elected as an MLA last May and has not had a high profile in Victoria. As a former school trustee and health consultant she has a long history of community work in education and health care on the North Shore.
Although she indicated she doesn't intend to fight the charges, her actions will recall attention to her political leader's own drunk-driving incident.
In January, 2003, Premier Gordon Campbell was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol while vacationing in Hawaii. The incident forced him to give up drinking and take a substance-abuse program, but he has since been re-elected twice.
