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Cindy Thompson says she almost never drinks, but smokes a pack a day despite a longstanding breathing problem that hadn’t yet been diagnosed on the day her legal troubles began.

On the May long weekend last year, Thompson, 58, left her job as a prep cook at the Ernie O’s diner in the small Alberta town of Fox Creek, three hours northwest of Edmonton, and headed to the nearby Grizzly Motor Hotel bar to play the lottery terminals.

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She drove away at 4:14 p.m., and was quickly pulled over by an RCMP officer who had been keeping an eye on the parking lot. She told the officer she hadn’t had a single drink, but the officer demanded a mandatory breath test. A new law passed in 2018 means police no longer need reasonable suspicion a driver has been drinking.

In nine tries, Thompson was unable to provide a suitable breath sample. She was criminally charged with refusing to comply with a breath demand, her driver’s licence was suspended and her car was impounded. She called the police station to offer a blood sample to prove her innocence, but the police (correctly) said that wasn’t an option. For the next four months she fought an appeal, racked up more than $2,000 in various fees, cab rides and legal expenses, and had to rely on family, friends, taxis and even her boss for rides.