A Vancouver-area RCMP officer is facing impaired driving charges a second time after getting stopped behind the wheel while his driver's licence was suspended.

'As police officers, we have seen first-hand the carnage and death caused by this irresponsible behaviour.'—RCMP spokesman Sgt. Tim Shields

The off-duty Mountie was arrested Saturday morning after a Vancouver police officer watched a man urinate in the Spanish Banks parking lot on N.W. Marine Drive and then get into a vehicle and attempt to drive away.

After the Vancouver officer stopped the vehicle and identified the man as an RCMP officer, the man failed to pass a breathalyzer test, said police.

Vancouver police are recommending he face charges of driving while prohibited, impaired driving and driving with blood-alcohol exceeding 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. He was released and is scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 8.

Previous arrest for impaired driving

The 55-year-old officer, assigned to RCMP's E Division headquarters, was previously arrested Oct. 3 after an accident on the Second Narrows Bridge, said police.

In that incident, police suspended his licence and recommended charges of impaired driving. He was scheduled to appear in court Nov. 20 in that case.

The officer's name has not yet been released because the Crown counsel has not yet approved a criminal charge from either of the two incidents, but police did say the man has been a member of RCMP for 16 years and has been on medical leave since the October incident.

Sgt. Tim Shields, media relations officer for the RCMP in B.C., said the Mountie also faces two formal internal Code of Conduct disciplinary hearings where possible sanctions include loss of pay and dismissal.

"Impaired driving is the No.1 criminal cause of death in Canada," Shields said. "As police officers, we have seen first-hand the carnage and death caused by this irresponsible behaviour. This makes it all the more difficult when an incident involves one of our own."