Second impaired conviction nets jail time

A Manitoba judge asked what it would take for a woman to understand the severity of impaired driving after being sentenced twice for the offence — with the most recent case involving a blood-alcohol content nearly triple the legal limit.

Barbara Chartrand, 37, pleaded guilty in Brandon provincial court on Thursday to driving impaired on May 11, resulting in her vehicle flipping in a collision on 18th Street near the Keystone Centre.

Chartrand has a previous conviction for impaired driving from 2018.

“It is only your good luck and good fortune that you weren’t hurt, and that you didn’t hurt somebody else or kill somebody else,” Judge Patrick Sullivan told the woman.

“That easily could have been the outcome here, and I wonder if that’s lost on you a little bit because this is the second time you’re before the court for that same offence.”

Sullivan said he wasn’t surprised to hear drugs and alcohol have fuelled Chartrand’s offending before he sentenced her for driving under the influence, as well as unrelated charges of assault and breaching her probation that she pleaded guilty to last week.

Crown attorney Easton Lacey said Chartrand was the only occupant in the vehicle during the collision and that the vehicle was leaking fluid after it tipped onto its side.

When police arrived at the scene, they noticed the accused’s breath smelled of alcohol and her speech was slurred.

A sample showed she had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.225 per cent — nearly three times the legal limit.

“Luckily, no one was hurt in the incident, but the fact that the level of intoxication is so great and the vehicle had flipped on its side is concerning,” Lacey said.

The Crown also described an assault that took place on Oct. 27, 2025 at a beer vendor on 10th Street in Brandon. Two women gave statements to police, stating they had been hiding in the establishment’s washroom in fear of a group of women who were waiting for them outside.

When they left the washroom, the group approached them, Lacey said. Chartrand punched one of the victims in the face twice, leaving her with a swollen bottom lip.

The other victim said Chartrand had “gotten in her face,” but wasn’t sure which woman in the group had punched her, Lacey said.

“Upon Ms. Chartrand’s arrest, she made several admissions to police, stating, ‘I hit her with an open hand. That doesn’t count,’” the Crown said.

Chartrand pleaded guilty to one count of assault on Sept. 14, and for another charge of failing to report to a probation officer on the same day of the assault.

Lacey argued the accused should face a sentence of 30 days for impaired driving and an 18-month driving prohibition. She suggested Chartrand also spend 45 days in jail for the assault, followed by a one-year unsupervised probation order, and pay a fine for not reporting to probation.

Defence lawyer Bob Harrison agreed that his client should be sentenced to 45 days in jail for the assault but differed in his reasoning for the impaired driving charge, saying she should get 15 days instead of 30.

He said Chartrand “was going through a rough time” when the offences occurred.

“Anytime you’re suffering from alcohol addiction and crystal meth, I think the story speaks for itself,” Harrison said.

He said Chartrand feels remorse for hitting the woman, who is a former high school friend, and has been attending programming to support her sobriety.

Chartrand experienced a difficult upbringing, plagued by absent family members, and was exposed to substance use at a young age, Harrison said.

Sullivan encouraged the accused to continue taking steps in her recovery.

He accepted counsels’ joint recommendation of 45 days for the assault and one year of unsupervised probation, with conditions not to contact the victims or possess any weapons. He also imposed a 30-day sentence for the impaired driving charge, an 18-month driving prohibition and a $100 fine for failing to report to probation.

Chartrand has spent 118 days in the Women’s Correctional Centre and has more than enough credit for time served, but she will remain in custody because she’s pending on break and enter and assault charges, Sullivan said.

She will next appear in court on Sept. 28.

» tadamski@brandonsun.com