Following the recent tragic death on Osoyoos Lake, Town of Osoyoos council has decided to get senior administration to seek a legal opinion to see if there’s anything they can do as municipal leaders to improve public safety by imposing stricter regulations regarding the rentals of motorized watercraft on Osoyoos Lake.
A young lady from Coquitlam was killed on Osoyoos Lake two weeks ago after the personal watercraft she had rented collided with another rented personal watercraft.
As was discussed by town councillors at their regular meeting of town council, you don’t need a driver’s license to rent these powerful machines. All you need to do to rent a motorized boat or personal watercraft in British Columbia is fill out a series of personal questions by staff with the rental company.
Because boating regulations fall under federal jurisdiction, council also voted to send a letter to the federal minister in charge of regulations regarding the operation of motorized watercraft voicing their concerns about the lack of federal regulation of motorized watercraft.
Mayor Sue McKortoff said she met recently with local MP Dick Cannings and the subject of the recent tragedy was discussed and Canning suggested he also receive a letter voicing the concerns of members of town council about the lack of regulations pertaining to motorized watercraft rentals.
Coun. Mike Campol said this issue comes down to public safety and it’s his opinion the fact someone can get access to operate a high-powered boat or personal watercraft by simply checking off several boxes on a questionnaire is very troubling.
“These things are basically motorcycles on water,” said Campol.
The recent tragedy resulting in the death of a young woman is deeply disturbing and this hasn’t been the only reported incident involving the rental of powerful motorized watercraft on Osoyoos Lake, he said.
“That was not the first incident on this lake,” he said.
Handing over the keys to a powerful machine with so little checks and balances to see if the operator knows what he or she is doing “puts everyone else on that lake in danger,” said Campol.
Coun. C.J. Rhodes agreed, saying that council must try and do whatever it can to try to make regulations to rent motorized watercraft more stringent if at all possible.
“I think we should step up to the plate and do whatever we can,” he said.
Council goes out of its way to regulate where and when food trucks can be located and what kind of food they can sell, so it’s not unreasonable to see if steps can’t be taken to try and make the rental of boats and personal watercraft more difficult, he said.
If that means changing municipal bylaws to ensure stricter regulations are in place for small businesses renting out these machines, then that angle should be pursued, said Rhodes.
Barry Romanko, the town’s chief administrative officer, said he’s not convinced municipalities have the authority to regulate the provisions contained in business licenses, but that’s why he suggested the town seek a legal opinion on this matter.
“I think we should ask for a legal opinion and see if we can regulate what kind of stipulations are governed with personal watercraft,” he said. “I think we should ask and see what the answer is.”
McKortoff said she also agreed with a suggestion by Coun. Carol Youngberg for town staff to make contact with the small number of small businesses in town that rent boats and personal watercraft and ask them for input on how to improve the current system and hopefully improve safety.
Council voted unanimously to approve staff seeking a legal opinion on this matter and to send letters to Cannings and the federal minister in charge of boating regulations in Canada.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
