Calgary man who drove from Alberta to B.C. coast while banned fined $1,000

A trucking company owner who drove from Alberta to B.C.’s Lower Mainland while banned from driving in both provinces has been handed a $1,000 fine and an additional 15-month driving prohibition.

Chad William Markin, 45, of Calgary, was handed the fine in North Vancouver provincial court June 29 after pleading guilty to a charge of driving while prohibited under the Motor Vehicle Act.

Crown prosecutor Sean Harvey said North Vancouver RCMP officers were conducting a roadblock on the Mount Seymour Parkway off-ramp to Highway 1 on May 5, 2021, when a black 2013 GMC Sierra with Alberta licence plates approached around 2:30 a.m.

When one of the officers asked the driver for his licence, the man said he didn’t have one. The officer determined that the man’s Alberta driver’s licence had been cancelled. Markin was arrested and his truck was impounded.

Harvey told the judge Markin had been handed an indefinite driving prohibition in B.C. on Jan. 8, 2016, but was subsequently caught driving again in Feb. 2016 in West Vancouver and handed a further one-year driving ban as well as a $500 fine.

Since that time, Markin hasn’t taken the necessary steps to become licensed again, said Harvey.

Judge Joanne Challenger told Markin his actions were more serious than a momentary lapse. “You chose knowing you were not licensed in either province to come all the way to the coast,” she said.

“It's a mystery why people don't just simply pay the points, take courses and get a driver's licence as opposed to carrying on driving while prohibited,” she added.

Markin, who runs a trucking company in Alberta, came to B.C. to visit his family, his lawyer said.

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