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District of West Vancouver Coun. Christine Cassidy, who is also vice-chairperson of the district’s police board, has acknowledged she was recently given a 24-hour roadside suspension.
Under B.C. law, a 24-hour prohibition is issued when a police officer has reasonable grounds to believe a person’s ability to drive is affected by alcohol or drugs. The person must surrender their licence and a notice of the prohibition is sent to ICBC.
Postmedia News reached out to Cassidy for comment after a source said Cassidy had an encounter with police on the evening of Nov. 18.
According to the source, whom Postmedia has agreed not to identify, a member of the public contacted authorities after seeing someone they believed was intoxicated leave the Earls restaurant at Ambleside Beach. The caller provided a description of the vehicle and a licence plate number.
Reached by phone, Cassidy confirmed a police officer approached her after she arrived home while she was parked in front of her house.
“I got a 24-hour suspension and no more,” she said.
She said she informed Mayor Mark Sager about it the next day, but insisted it was a “nothing story.”
Cassidy said she and Sager discussed the incident with a lawyer “because I was very concerned, because I have a very clean driving record.”
Cassidy said she had two five-ounce glasses of wine over three hours while at Earls that night. She insisted: “I was not walking unsteadily” and that the person who called authorities “should try walking in a pair of high heels.”
Cassidy suggested staff at Earls restaurant had targeted her because she told a waiter she saw mice “scurrying up the wall.” She also said the restaurant had failed a health inspection.
“Yes, yes, I was targeted. There’s no question about it,” Cassidy said.
Earls management said staff didn’t make a call to police. For liability reasons, the restaurant has a protocol that includes a WhatsApp chat and verbal communication when police are called on customers who have been over-served, and they had no record of that happening.
They also said the only inspection issue came from a leak in their wine fridge, which was repaired and certified by the inspectors.
However, Vancouver Coastal Health inspection reports published online show that on Aug. 5 a routine inspection found “signs of rodent activity.” The same signs were found during another routine inspection on Nov. 14 and during a followup inspection on Nov. 20.
Postmedia tried over several days for comment from West Van police. However, emails and calls to Chief John Lo and spokeswoman Suzanne Birch weren’t returned.
Sager said late last week he hadn’t heard of any incident involving Cassidy and declined to comment until he had more details. He hasn’t responded to followup inquiries.
Cassidy served on West Van council from 2014 to 2018, ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2018 and was re-elected to council in 2022. Cassidy was appointed to the West Vancouver police board in April 2024 after Sager vacated his position on the board.
The police board is a civilian body that, according to its website , is responsible for establishing policies and priorities that set direction for the police department, provide financial oversight for the department, and handle complaints against the department. It also has disciplinary authority for complaints against the chief.
Graham McIsaac, chair of the West Van police board, said he couldn’t comment “because all of that is confidential information. … It’s a private matter.”
He suggested Postmedia “look up Section 215 of the act.”
Asked which act he was referring to, he said: “I’m not going to discuss it with you further. You do your own research.”
Under B.C.’s Motor Vehicle Act, Section 215 relates to 24-hour prohibitions. The section states that a notice of prohibition can be issued “if the peace officer has reasonable grounds to believe that a driver’s ability to drive a motor vehicle is affected by alcohol.”
Asked if he believed this was a matter for the police board to address, McIsaac said: “I cannot comment.”
With files from Lori Culbert and Douglas Quan