RCMP in our province are not conducting the traditional checkstops this December.

Sergeant Paul Manaigre says prior to last year, it had become tradition for RCMP to have large-scale checkstops involving numerous police vehicles on the side of the road. But, Manaigre says they opted not to run the program last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic and decided against running it this year also.

"(It's) due to the continuation of the COVID-19 virus that's still permeating Manitoba," explains Manaigre. "Checking all of these vehicles, that's just putting officers and the motoring public at risk."

Manaigre says they are changing their enforcement strategies this year and instead doing more small-scale operations where more officers are dedicated to traffic shifts targeting high-risk driving behaviours.

Manaigre says right now their main focus is impaired driving, noting it is still prevalent. In fact, more impaired drivers have already been caught in 2021 than in either 2020 or 2019. So far in 2021, there have been 1,848 impaired drivers caught compared to 1,738 in 2020 and 1,843 in 2019.

"The numbers clearly show the trend is still there," he says. "People are making that bad decision to drink and drive and for us we're out there to catch them."

Manaigre says it is difficult to confirm whether or not the lack of an Operation Red Nose program in our province the last two years has contributed to higher numbers of impaired motorists being caught. However, he says clearly with a lack of choices, people are sometimes making the decision to get behind the wheel, thinking they have no other option.

According to Manaigre, about 100 people die on Manitoba roadways each year. He notes between 30 and 50 of those deaths can be attributed to drinking and driving. And, Manaigre says breaking the news to someone that a loved one has died, no matter what caused that death, is something he has had to do too often as an officer.

"I've actually had to make that knock on the door many times to let someone know that someone that they loved has passed away. I can speak from experience on it," he says. "It's a horrible experience to have to provide that news to someone."

Shannon Dueck - Discover Westman News Team