Liberal MP facing charge of refusing breathalyzer test
According to police documents examined by the Halifax Chronicle Herald, Liberal MP Pablo Robdriguez had bloodshot eyes and alcohol on his breath after his BMW hit a parked car last April 16. A police report into the incident notes Rodriguez initially denied having had anything to drink prior to the accident and then admitted he’d had “two small glasses of wine” before leaving Ottawa that night for Montreal. When the officer tried to administer a breathalyzer test, “Rodriguez breathed very weakly and cut his breath repeatedly, all the while holding the plastic tip at the edge of his lips.” After several unsuccessful attempts to administer the test, the police officer warned Rodriguez he could be charged with refusing. “Rodriguez told me several times that we were going to damage his career that he had taken 30 years to build,” the officer reported. “He also mentioned that he hoped that it wasn’t because he was in the Liberal party that I was charging him. I told the monsieur that I was only doing my job.”The Montreal MP told reporters last month he would plead not guilty to a charge of refusing the breathalyzer test on June 15.