2018-Dec-14
A canoe is a vessel
On November 15th 2018, Justice Peter West made an historic ruling in the ongoing trial of David Sillers where Mr. Sillers is facing charges in relation to the death of 8 year old Thomas Raincourt. In April of last year, Thomas died when the canoe he was in tipped over and he went over High Falls in Muskoka. Mr. Sillers, who was also in the canoe, is alleged to have been legally impaired.
At issue was whether a canoe (or any human powered vessel ) is legally a vessel in drinking and boating charges. The Criminal Code has been unclear about which vessels are subject to impaired driving laws. The Canada Shipping Act , however, clearly defines a vessel ( and includes all human powered vessels ). The prosecution argued that the court could import the definition of a vessel from the Canada Shipping Act. Justice West agreed and ruled that canoes are vessels.
This ruling that a canoe is a vessel with regard to impaired operation is a Canadian first and creates an important precedent.
Because of Justice West’s ruling, Mr. Sillers is still facing four criminal charges :
- impaired operation of a vessel causing death
- operation of a vessel over 80 causing death
- dangerous operation of a vessel causing death
- criminal negligence causing death
If Justice West had ruled that a canoe was not a vessel then only the 4th charge would have proceeded.
The trial will not conclude until next year.
Note: the CSBC has indicated that there are approximately 8.6 million boats in use in Canada. About 60% are human powered. Between 1991 and 2010 a total of 375 deaths were attributed to suspected and confirmed cases involving alcohol and unpowered vessels.