Federal bill excludes drunk paddling, alarming safe-boating advocates
Posted Sep 29, 2017 12:33 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA – Legislation to crack down on driving or operating other vehicles while impaired would exclude canoeing or paddle-boarding while under the influence, a move that alarms a group promoting safe boating.
Last spring, the federal government introduced a bill to modernize and overhaul laws dealing with operation of all kinds of vehicles, aircraft and vessels after drinking or taking drugs.
The bill’s definition of a vessel specifically excludes those propelled solely by muscle power.
Police have used the currently understood legal definition of a vessel to lay charges for impaired boating involving non-motorized craft.
The Canadian Safe Boating Council says there were at least 375 deaths in suspected or confirmed cases involving alcohol and unpowered vessels such as canoes and rafts in Canada from 1991 to 2010.
The council wants the federal bill amended to include all water-going vessels.
