OTTAWA—Peter Goldring, a Conservative MP from Edmonton East, has quit the Tory caucus after being charged with refusing to provide a breath sample following a random roadside screening stop last weekend.

Global News first reported Monday that Goldring, 67, was charged following a weekend fundraising event at the Ukrainian Youth Unity Complex in north Edmonton.

A senior government source confirmed to the Star that Goldring “has voluntarily withdrawn from our caucus while the charges are resolved, because our government takes drinking and driving very seriously.”

The Conservative government source said because the matter is now “before the courts, we can’t comment further.”

Edmonton police spokesman Chad Orydzuk said Goldring faces one count under the Criminal Code, which says a person commits an offence who, without reasonable excuse, fails or refuses to comply with a demand made to him by a peace officer.

Penalties for convictions range from fines from $600 up to imprisonment for up to five years, depending on whether it is a first or repeat offence, and depending on whether the Crown opts to prosecute as a summary or indictable offence.

Goldring was pulled over in the early morning hours of Sunday as part of a Holiday Checkstop campaign.

Goldring was not charged with impaired driving, was not taken into custody and his vehicle was not seized, he said. He could not say whether a court date had been set.

Goldring, an MP for 11 years, argued in 2009 against a proposal for mandatory roadside screening tests where there is no reason to believe someone is impaired, saying civil liberties should be protected.

He said a proposal by Mothers Against Drunk Driving that had been endorsed by a House of Commons justice committee went “too far.”

Goldring wrote on his website: “There is already random screening for impaired drivers” under RIDE programs and other such community safety programs across Canada.

“It is safe to say everyone is opposed to drunk driving — but there are civil liberty issues involved,” he wrote at the time. “There is the presumption of innocence and the right to not self incriminate. That may seem odious when we’re talking about a crime such as drunk driving, but it is hypocritical to hold principles and apply them only when convenient.”

Goldring is not the first sitting MP to be criminally charged in connection with drinking and driving.

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Liberal MP Pablo Rodriguez was permitted to remain in caucus while he faced charges of failing to provide a breath sample. He was defeated in his Quebec riding in the 2011 election.

In 2001, Jean-Guy Carignan elected in 2000 as a Liberal, faced impaired charges connected with a hit-and-run accident. Carignan resigned from Liberal caucus after pleading guilty to a lesser charge. He sat as an independent MP, and was defeated in 2004.