Driving home the message to drunk boaters

As the 2006 boating season kicks off, Ontario is poised to introduce groundbreaking legislation that cracks down on boaters who drink and drive. Under Bill 209, people convicted of operating a motorized vessel while impaired – including cottagers who take a cruise when soused – will be stripped of their automobile driver’s licences.

Once Bill 209 passes into law, drunk boaters will be subject to the same suspension penalties that now apply to drivers. Boaters whose blood-alcohol level is 0.05 (50 mg per 100 ml) could be taking the bus home because of an immediate 12-hour suspension of their driver’s licence. If they blow 0.08 or more, or if the police deem their ability impaired, the offender will receive a 90-day suspension. Fines and jail terms will be left to the discretion of the judge on a case-by-case basis; however, a conviction will mean an immediate, one-year suspension.

Behind these suspensions and penalties is a human story. Simply put, Bill 209 exists because of Ken Crompton’s 2 1/2-year journey to honour his son’s life. Early on the morning of July 13, 2003, Pete Crompton, 27, was enjoying the sunrise over Lake Joseph when an impaired boater smashed into the boat in which he was riding. Pete was killed instantly; the driver, who pleaded guilty to criminal negligence causing death and criminal negligence causing bodily injury, received an 18-month conditional sentence.

After the tragic crash, Crompton, a lawyer, began to question why the laws that severely punish impaired drivers of cars, ATVs, and snowmobiles don’t apply to boaters.

The grieving father started lobbying for an amendment to the Highway Traffic Act, which governs automobile driving privileges. Crompton worked with Toronto-area MPP David Zimmer, a Muskoka cottager, to help draft Bill 209. Back in 1998, a similar bill died before third reading. It floundered because there were competing priorities for the government, says OPP Staff Sergeant Brad Schlorff. “When it comes to social drinking,” he says, “many people still think of cottages and boats as the last refuge from government intervention.” Not anymore.

*Published in the April/May 2006 issue of Cottage Life.

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