NEWS RELEASE
ONTARIO PROVINCIAL POLICE
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MIDLAND - Members of the OPP Marine Unit attached to the Southern Georgian Bay Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) checked area boaters on the waters of Georgian Bay and up to the Big Chute Marine Railway on the Trent Severn Waterway for proper vessel equipment and driver sobriety while on patrol aboard the OPP patrol Vessel Thomas P. Coffin over the past weekend of Oct. 10-14, 2019.
Officers stopped and checked 24 vessels during their 28 hours of patrol on the waters of Georgian Bay resulting in one charge under the Canada Shipping Act for failing to have lifejackets for all persons aboard and two charges for failing to provide proper vessel and operator documentation. Interesting to note that the operator presented the officers with an inflatable lifejacket without a CO 2 inflating cylinder.
One operator was charged under the Liquor Licence Act (LLA) for operating a vessel with open liquor which lead to the operator submitting a breath sample on a Roadside Screening Device. Remember vessel operators can lose their ability to operate a motor vehicle with a "warn" result for three days as part of the Ministry of Transportation Administrative Drivers Licence Suspension (ADLS) program.
The marine crew remind cottagers to practise 'lock it or lose it' especially now as cottage close up season is nearing.
Officers crewing the OPP Patrol Vessel Thomas P. Coffin remind all vessel operators that they are checking for vessel equipment and for liquor offences which they are vigorously enforcing in an effort to reduce injuries and fatalities on our area waterways.
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