REGINA, Sask. — For one Saskatchewan family, every impaired driver removed from the road represents a tragedy that may never happen.
That message was at the heart of Tuesday’s MADD Canada Van de Vorst Family Police Awards in Regina, where Saskatchewan police officers were recognized for thousands of impaired-driving interventions during 2025.
A total of 213 officers are being recognized across the province this year for going above and beyond to remove impaired drivers from roads, waterways and trails.
At the Regina ceremony, Linda Van de Vorst said those officers accounted for 4,191 interventions over the past year, including 1,190 Criminal Code charges and 2,901 roadside suspensions.
The awards were created after Linda and Lou Van de Vorst lost their son Jordan, daughter-in-law Shanda and their two young grandchildren, Kamryn and Miguire, in an impaired-driving crash on January 3, 2016.
Linda remembers learning about the deaths after a police officer came to their door shortly before 3 a.m.
She says those memories never disappear, but they have given the family a reason to recognize the officers working to prevent another family from experiencing the same loss.
“Your success in taking them off the roadways directly prevents injury, death and those knocks on the door,” Van de Vorst told officers.
The awards are divided into several levels based on impaired-driving enforcement.
Officers who remove between eight and 16 impaired drivers receive a Silver Challenge Coin and certificate of recognition.
Those who reach 17 or more receive the Gold Coin Award and certificate, while officers responsible for 40 or more impaired drivers receive the Platinum Award.
This year also marked the introduction of the highest level of recognition yet, the Diamond Award.
It recognizes officers who have reached at least 145 impaired-driving interventions through roadside suspensions or Criminal Code charges.
Three Saskatchewan officers reached that threshold in the inaugural year of the award. Two received their Diamond Awards in Saskatoon, while the third was unable to attend that ceremony.
MADD Canada CEO Steve Sullivan says the new award recognizes an extraordinary level of commitment.
“We wanted to make sure we recognize those officers who have over 145 interventions with potential impaired drivers,” Sullivan said. “And so that’s an incredible number.”
Sullivan says the work being recognized often happens without the officers ever knowing whose lives they may have protected.
“They won’t know your name either,” he said. “But we know your names.”
Saskatchewan Government Insurance Senior Director of Traffic Safety and Driver Programs Chelsea Janis says impaired driving continues to be a major safety concern in the province.
She told the ceremony it is a factor in an average of 622 collisions, 361 injuries and 39 deaths in Saskatchewan each year.
“There is no reason, no excuse for impaired driving in 2026,” Janis said.
She says the officers receiving recognition are helping turn those statistics into a different outcome for families across the province.
“Every intervention can prevent a collision, an injury, or a family’s loss,” Janis said.
The Regina Police Service was represented by Inspector Jason Gunderson, who says enforcement remains an important part of changing behaviour behind the wheel.
“Enforcement changes behavior and that’s our ultimate goal here,” Gunderson said.
Regina Police Chief Lorilee Davies says the awards also give frontline officers an opportunity to reflect on why their work matters.
She says officers do not take impaired drivers off the road for recognition, but being honoured alongside their peers adds meaning to an already difficult responsibility.
“It’s really meaningful,” Davies said. “They don't do it for the recognition, obviously, they do it to make a difference and ensure our roads are safe."
Moose Jaw Police Service Constable Ryan Lundquist received a Gold Award and has now been recognized for impaired-driving enforcement five times.
Lundquist says he knew Shanda Van de Vorst from university, giving the awards a particularly personal connection for him.
He says continued training has also helped him become more confident in identifying drug impairment, an area he believes requires ongoing learning.
“It’s not going to stop for me,” Lundquist said. “Continue doing and looking for those impaired drivers because they’re out there.”
For Regina Police Service Traffic Safety Unit Officer Simon Wollett, the recognition is a reminder that pulling an impaired driver over can have consequences far beyond the traffic stop itself.
He says he has personally known both someone who killed another person through impaired driving and an innocent victim who died because of it.
“Every single time I can speak on behalf of all the police officers is that we feel good about it,” Wollett said. “We’re actually making a difference in the community and we’re saving lives.”
Sullivan says that is why MADD Canada continues to recognize police officers through the Van de Vorst Family Awards.
The organization also works on public awareness, education, policy advocacy and victim and survivor support, while promoting tools such as mandatory alcohol screening and other measures aimed at preventing impaired driving.
But for the Van de Vorst family, the reason behind the awards remains much more personal.
Linda says every officer who removes an impaired driver from the road has potentially prevented another family from receiving the kind of news that changed her family forever.
“While today it seems like these situations will never end, please know for every person taken off the road, a family is spared suffering,” she said.
“And these numbers represent families potentially saved from receiving that unexpected knock on the door or phone call.”
