SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Boating season is just around the corner so Transport Canada is alerting NWT boaters to make sure their boats are licensed. It remains to be seen, however, if this regulation is actually being enforced.
Transport Canada placed an advertisement in the Wednesday, March 27 Yellowknifer, warning boaters that any recreational boat with a motor of 10 horsepower or more requires a pleasure craft licence. Once a licence is obtained the owner is given a number which must be displayed on the side of the boat.
This is not to be confused with the pleasure craft operator card, for which NWT and Nunavut residents are exempt.
Pleasure craft licences are free and valid for up to 10 years and can be obtained online or through Transport Canada's boating safety info hotline. The ad does not mention there is a $250 fine for not having the licence card displayed in one's boat, but it's unclear how this requirement is enforced in any event.
News/North tried to get answers from the department all of last week but at press time Friday it remains unknown whether anyone in the NWT has actually been fined for not having a licence.
"I've never been stopped and I honestly don't know if I have ever heard of anyone being stopped," said Jason Clarke, general manager of the Force One boat dealership and an avid boater himself. "To my knowledge, most people in the Northwest Territories do not have their pleasure craft licence."
According to Karine Martel, a spokesperson with Transport Canada in Ottawa, a total of 66 pleasure craft licences were issued in the Northwest Territories from April 1, 2012 to March 31, 2013, but the average over the last three years has been 27 licences issued per year.
Martel could not provide any information on enforcement or how the department monitors for licensing compliance.
"It's not like motor vehicles, where they send you a reminder,"said former mayor Gord Van Tighem, addeding, "my boat's always been licenced."
He said he was unaware of the $20 fine, but has always licenced his boat because, "if it gets lost or stolen it gives you a record that it's yours and that it exists."
Pietro de Bastiani, a member at the Great Slave Yacht Club, points out that one of the problems faced by law enforcement officers in the territory is that there aren't enough resources to go around.
"Is it surprising that people aren't compliant with that particular regulation? Not really," said de Bastiani.
He said many boaters choose to outfit their crafts with 9.9 horsepower engines just to circumvent the law.
De Bastiani runs a boat safety course at the yacht club every summer, and believes that aside from the risk of incurring a hefty fine, the licence is worth getting for its own sake.
"Boat safety and awareness, by itself, is still probably the most important thing," said de Bastiani.
"My advice to boat owners would be make an effort to understand the rules of owning and operating a vessel. That includes making sure the boat is licenced."
