Quebec man sentenced to 14 years for killing family while driving drunk

A 37-year-old Quebec man who killed a family of three while driving drunk has been sentenced to 14 years in prison.

Yves Martin was also banned from driving for the rest of his life in one of the toughest sentences handed down for impaired driving in Canadian history.

He was sentenced Thursday in Saguenay, about 250 kilometres north of Quebec City.

In his ruling, ​Judge François Huot described drinking and driving as a 'cancer' on society.

Martin's blood-alcohol level was twice the legal limit when his pickup truck collided with the vehicle carrying Mathieu Perron, his pregnant wife Vanessa Viger and their four-year-old son in Chicoutimi, Que., in August 2015. 

All three died from injuries sustained in the collision.

A jury convicted Martin last December of dangerous driving causing death, impaired driving causing death and driving with a blood-alcohol level above the legal limit.

Considering his time served, Martin will have to serve 11 years and nine months. The crown asked for a sentence of between 15 to 20 years while the defence pushed for 10 or less.

Martin has two previous drunk driving convictions.

• Yves Martin charged in collision that killed Mathieu Perron and Vanessa Viger
• ​​Boy orphaned by Saguenay, Que., collision dies in hospital

Mother of victim asks court for 'clear message'

In a victim impact statement presented last year, Perron's mother, Danielle Tremblay, called her son a fighter.

She said Perron survived kidney cancer when he was 19 years old and went on to marry and start a family with Viger.

Tremblay told the court that just hours before the fatal accident, the two 26-year-olds had shown her the ultrasound of what would have been their second child.

The grieving mother then asked the judge to send a "clear message" that people have to become more responsible behind the wheel.

The maximum sentence for impaired driving causing death is life in prison.

In 2009, Roger Walsh, of St. Lazare, Que., was given life after his 19th drunk driving offence resulted in the death of a 47-year-old woman in a wheelchair. 

• No appeal for Roger Walsh in repeat drunk driver case