SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Boat dealer Doug Witty says people are still getting the wrong message about boating licensing requirements coming into effect next week across Canada, but not in the NWT.

Stanley Beck of Fort Resolution was teaching Carol Beck of Yellowknife how to operate a motorboat on Thursday afternoon. They said training requirements could be useful for people who didn't grow up operating boats. - Elizabeth McMillan/NNSL photo

Transport Canada first announced all drivers of powered boats would need a Pleasure Craft Operator's Card by Sept. 15, 2009, but it hasn't always been clear that boaters in the NWT and Nunavut are exempt.

"People need not race around and worry about getting signed up," said Doug Witty, who owns the Yellowknife boat dealership Force One.

Witty said he's heard a lot of mixed messaged but the new rules don't apply in the NWT and Nunavut.

As of Sept. 15, people operating power boats must be able to show they've received training. Much like a driver's licence, boat operators must have a Pleasure Craft Operator Card or an equivalent certification.

The regulations include all motorized boats, including sailboats with motors, powered kayaks, gondolas and skiffs.

Witty used to sit on the national recreational boat safety council and he said there are no plans to review the territories' exemption.

"We're not even on the radar not to be exempt," he said.

He said he understands the reasoning for the regulations but they don't fit the boating culture in the North.

"Everyone who writes that licensing (exam) would need to know navigational rules, how to handle going into major ports, a lot of requirements that really that aren't necessary in a place like Yellowknife, Rae Lakes, any number of places across Northern Canada," he said.

He said it would be difficult to enforce the rules in the two territories and lack of training could result in unnecessary fines.

"It's a practical solution. Bad laws make criminals out of good people," he said.

"There's no way to expect a great number of people living in communities that boat for a living or boat for traditional lifestyles, to be able to write a test in a language that might not be their first language at a level of marine understanding that is something they will never need."

Last Thursday afternoon, Stanley Beck of Fort Resolution was teaching his cousin's wife, Carol Beck of Yellowknife, how to operate a motor in his small fishing boat.

As they pulled the boat ashore at the boat launch at Giant Mine, they said they hadn't heard of the boating licensing requirements but have discussed whether boaters ought to be licensed before.

Beck said he'd never received any official training but learned about boats from his father, who was a trapper and a commercial fisherman on the Great Slave Lake.

"I've been on the boat since I was a kid, ever since I could remember," he said. "It's like riding a bicycle."

He said a training certificate could be useful for beginners, but many people who work on the water don't need a course.

"There's a lot of people who really know the lake and they have no schooling so they wouldn't take the course and they'd get a fine for nothing," he said.

Carol Beck agreed but said that certification could ensure everyone on the water knew what they were doing.

"There's a lot to learn ... if people don't have experience, then licensing could be essential," she said.

With limited experience, she said she wouldn't feel comfortable taking other people out in a boat, and she said it might make sense for standardized licensing for people like herself, or occasional users like tourists visiting the area.

"A big part of it is learning where the storms are brewing and reading the waves ... If you don't know what you're doing, you might take chances you shouldn't," she said. "I'm at the level he was when he (Stanley) was eight or nine years old."

But while the licensing may not apply here, Witty said local boaters should know they still require a license if they're going to operate a boat elsewhere in the country, including in the Yukon.

An avid boater himself, Witty decided to test his knowledge by taking the exam on a whim at the Toronto Boat Show.

"There's no question in my mind that it would be a very challenging exam," he said.

People who are interested in becoming certified can do so online. The operator cards never expire.

Stephen Sherburne, manager of boating safety with Transport Canada, declined to comment. Other officials with the department did not return phone calls.