LIVID! Learning, Insights & Voices on Impaired Driving

Do victim impact statements influence sentencing in Canadian courts? In cases involving impaired driving in Canada, victims and families are often invited to speak during a sentencing hearing, but many wonder whether their words truly matter in the criminal justice system or under the impaired driving laws designed to hold offenders accountable.

In this episode of LIVID!: Learning, Insights, and Voices on Impaired Driving, host Amanda Bickell explores the purpose and impact of victim impact statements after delivering her own in court on February 25, 2026, during the sentencing of the impaired driver who killed her 22-year-old daughter, Abbey.

Victim impact statements became part of Canada’s Criminal Code in 1988 and are now protected under the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights (2015), which guarantees victims the right to participate in the justice system and have their statements considered during sentencing.

But many victims still ask: Do victim impact statements actually matter?

Amanda shares what it was like to prepare and read her statement in a Vancouver courtroom. She describes the emotional labour of writing about devastating loss, speaking directly to the judge and the offender, and the moment when victims’ voices filled the courtroom.

In Abbey’s case, 21 victim impact statements were submitted, far above Canada’s average participation rate of about 11%. Research suggests these statements may have limited influence on sentencing outcomes, but they can help judges understand the real harm caused by crime, humanize victims in legal proceedings, and may even reduce the likelihood of reoffending.

More importantly, victim impact statements can help victims reclaim their voice. Amanda reflects on the unexpected benefits of the process: honouring Abbey’s life, strengthening relationships among those who loved her, and opening conversations about grief that had been too painful to share.

While they may not influence the sentence, victim impact statements can transform the courtroom from a place focused only on legal facts into one where the human cost of impaired driving is heard.

In Part 2, Amanda shares the victim impact statement she read in court.

LIVID! explores impaired driving in Canada through real stories, research, and honest conversations about loss, justice, and change.

Listener discretion advised.

References

Roberts, Julian V. Victim Impact Statements: Lessons Learned and Future Priorities. Government of Canada. https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/cj-jp/victim/rr07_vic4/p1.html#ftn1

Government of Canada. Victims Rights in Canada: Victim Impact Statements. https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/cj-jp/victims-victimes/factsheets-fiches/victim-victime.html

Government of Canada. Victim Impact Statements. https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/cj-jp/victims-victimes/sentencing-peine/vis-dv.html

British Columbia Review Board. Information for Victims. https://www.bcrb.ca/info-for-victims/

MADD Canada. Victim/Survivor Services. https://madd.ca/pages/programs/victimsurvivor-services/

Government of Canada. Use of Victim Impact Statements at Sentencing and Parole. https://www.victimsweek.gc.ca/res/r58.html

LePage, Kamelle. Canadian Victim Impact Statements. Saint Mary’s University, 2022. https://library2.smu.ca/bitstream/handle/01/30905/LePage_Kamelle_MASTERS_2022.pdf

Kahlon, Opinder Singh. Effects of Victim Impact Statements on Sentencing Outcomes. Justice Institute of British Columbia, 2024. https://jibc.arcabc.ca/_flysystem/repo-bin/2024-12/jibc_3559.pdf

In the debut episode of LIVID (Learning, Insights, and Voices on Impaired Driving), host Amanda Bickell shares the devastating story that changed her life forever and sparked a call to action on impaired driving in Canada.

This episode recounts how Amanda’s 22-year-old daughter, Abbey, was killed by an impaired driver in British Columbia. Through carefully documented, publicly available facts, Amanda explains how a driver travelling at extreme speed, running multiple red lights, fleeing a prior collision, and driving with a blood alcohol level roughly three times the legal limit, ended Abbey’s life in seconds. Abbey and her friend did nothing wrong. She was killed through no fault of her own.

Beyond the timeline of the crash in Burnaby and Vancouver, this episode explores the long and painful aftermath: grief, rage, and the slow grind of the Canadian justice system. Amanda speaks candidly about what it means to be a “good victim,” the limitations, and the frustration of waiting years for accountability while an offender remains free.

But this is not just a story of loss. It is a reckoning.

Amanda questions why impaired driving, despite decades of education, enforcement, and awareness campaigns, remains the leading cause of criminal death in Canada. She asks why data is inconsistent, why court processes take so long, why sentences feel disconnected from harm, and why society continues to tolerate an entirely preventable crime. Drawing on her background in organizational wisdom and systems thinking, she reframes impaired driving as a systemic failure involving law, policy, culture, enforcement, and collective responsibility.

This episode also introduces the heart of LIVID: moving from righteous anger to informed action. Amanda explains how the thoughts she could not express in court became the foundation for this podcast, a place to ask hard questions, challenge uncomfortable truths, and amplify voices that demand change. Future episodes will explore law, politics, alcohol culture, trauma, economics, enforcement, prevention, and what zero impaired driving deaths in Canada could actually look like.

The episode is dedicated to Abbey, her courage, her voice, and her refusal to stay silent in the face of injustice. Through LIVID, Amanda carries that courage forward, determined to fight for a future where no family receives the knock at the door that shattered hers.

Listener discretion advised: This episode contains discussions of impaired driving, traumatic loss, grief, and the justice system.

If you care about road safety, criminal justice, victims’ rights, or preventing impaired driving in Canada, this episode is a powerful place to start.

🔔 Subscribe to LIVID for upcoming episodes, expert interviews, case analysis, and updates as this journey continues.
🌐 Learn more and explore references at www.lividpodcast.ca

References:

College of Saint Benedict & Saint John’s University. Understanding Blood Alcohol Content (BAC). Retrieved Feb 21, 2026 from
https://www.csbsju.edu/well-being-center/health-promotion/alcohol-guide/understanding-blood-alcohol-content-bac/

British Columbia Prosecution Service. Victim Impact Statement and Statement on Restitution (Information Guide).Retrieved Feb 26, 2026 from
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/law-crime-and-justice/criminal-justice/prosecution-service/information-sheets/victim-impact-statements/victim-impact-statement-guide.pdf

Government of Canada, Department of Justice
https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/cj-jp/sidl-rlcfa/

Royal Canadian Mounted Police. 2024–25 Departmental Plan
https://rcmp.ca/en/corporate-information/publications-and-manuals/2024-25-departmental-plan/full-report#t10matchprediction

Statistics Canada
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/cv!recreate.action?pid=3510017701

McCarthy, Niall. The Worst Countries in the World for Drunk Driving. Statista, August 16, 2016.
https://www-statista-com.ezproxy.kpu.ca:2443/chart/5504/the-worst-countries-in-the-world-for-drunk-driving/