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Sagan Burns, 11, stands at the edge of one of the dropoffs at Long Lake Beach in Fred Henne Territorial Park as Daron Letts, an editor at Yellowknifer, demonstrates its depth on Monday morning. The hole, which is unmarked, is about 30 metres from the shoreline in front of a bush in the middle of the beach and is more than six feet deep, compared to a depth of about three feet in the surrounding water. - Cody Punter/NNSL photo

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Parents are wondering whether the territorial government has its priorities straight after its regional director of tourism and parks, Richard Zieba, suggested it is considering placing a limit on the number of people allowed on Long Lake Beach.

"It's a bad idea. It's our only close beach, it's a wonderful resource and it's free," said Tamlin Gilbert, who was at the beach with his two sons, aged four and one, on Monday morning. "I'd rather they pay for lifeguards."

"It just doesn't make any sense. It doesn't feel right to limit the number of people here," said Derek MacKinnon, a parent of two children. "I don't have a solution but I don't think limiting the number of people would help as much as lifeguards."

"I'd hate to be the one that was turned away," he added.

Residents of Yellowknife have been calling on the GNWT and the city to pay to have lifeguards stationed at Long Lake Beach in Fred Henne Territorial Park after seven-year-old Lodune Shelley drowned there on June 27.

Gilbert said it is ironic the GNWT is suggesting limiting the number of people on the beach after both the government and the city have complained that they do not have enough staff to put lifeguards there.

"How are they going to limit the number of people? You're going to have to put someone at the gate. If you're going to pay for someone at the gate, why not pay for a lifeguard?" asked Gilbert.

Gilbert added he'd rather the city and the GNWT move resources from other parts of their budgets to get lifeguards.

"Cut the grass one less time in the city, or pay for one less survey into economic development and move your resources to get a lifeguard," said Gilbert.

Gilbert also pointed out that turning away people might compromise the public's safety.

"The other problem is if you turn people away, they will go swim in unsupervised areas," said Gilbert.

Zieba said limiting the number of people at the beach is just one of the measures the government is considering and that it is waiting for the Lifesaving Society's NWT and Alberta chapter to make its recommendations before making any final decision.

He said limiting the number of people that are allowed at the beach might be a condition of having lifeguards on watch.

"If we are in a position where we are going to have lifeguards at the beach, there will be a certain ratio of people to lifeguards, and to maintain that ratio, we might have to limit access," he said.

Barbara Costache, chief administrative officer from the Lifesaving Society's NWT and Alberta chapter, said limiting access to the water was just one of many options the society would be considering during its audit. She said it would look at the possibility of having a recommended ratio of legal caregivers to children.

Costache said it would be up to the government to decide what kind of measures it wanted to take to enforce maximum capacities and approved ratios, if it were to adopt those regulations.

"It would have to be done through some type of personnel. The personnel could range from a lifeguard, it could be park staff, it could be water smart co-ordinators, it could be water smart volunteers."

When asked to cite other Canadian communities with beach occupancy limits, Costache said there are some in Nova Scotia where lifeguards limit the number of swimmers in the water but didn't list any specific beaches.

Costache added regardless of the procedures the government decides to adopt, it will become its responsible for enforcing them.

"If the government decides to put rules and regulations in for the beach, they are going to have to manage them, because the consequence of not (doing so) is potentially the risk liability and another drowning."

When asked whether he is concerned that turning people away from the beach would lead to more swimming in unsupervised areas, Zieba said the GNWT is currently focusing its attention on areas for which it is responsible.

Zieba also questioned the logic of Gilbert's statement.

"You could use the same argument that if you limit bad behaviour in a park, are you encouraging people to behave badly in other areas of the city?" he asked.

Beyond the lack of lifeguards, one of the major safety concerns at the beach is the existence of several drop-off zones of various sizes and depths a short distance from the shore. One of the holes, which Yellowknifer discovered about 30 metres from the shoreline, is about four metres in diameter and drops off steeply to a depth of more than six feet in its centre from about three feet nearby.

Jennifer Teed, who was at the beach with her three-month-old son on Monday, said she is not aware of the holes and she was surprised when a Yellowknifer editor demonstrated the dramatic drop-off.

"You'd assume it would be shallow," said Teed. "If anything, those should be fixed or at least marked out with a flag."

Zieba said the government is aware of the holes and that the lifesaving society will be providing suggestions on how to best deal with them. He pointed out that trying to fill holes would be a difficult process and might not even work, due to the nature of the sand. He suggested having the holes properly marked with buoys and signs might be a more feasible solution to the problem.

"Putting a buoy to mark a sinkhole is probably a good idea, if we can't deal with it in terms of filling it," he said.

Yellowknifer Facebook question: What do you think of the idea of setting occupancy limits for NWT beaches?

Selected responses:

• "Well, if they are going to set limits, who will enforce them? A park employee who will stand at the gates? Why not just hire a lifeguard and let people have fun!"
• "Occupancy limits are designed for a lifeguard to manage a beach and the occupants on it safely. It seems that having a ratio of 25:1 seems to be the accepted practice in North America. Therefore, if lifeguards are brought into the fold it seems the occupancy limits on beaches would be determined by how much we as a taxpayer are prepared to pay."
• "So on a nice beautiful hot day when the beaches are usually full enough, the city of Yk is going to hire someone to turn kids away because they have reached the occupancy limit? Really? That's their great idea? That's cruel! Then you'll have more people going to other areas to swim and cool off and more tragedies! JUST FIND THE RESOURCES TO HIRE LIFEGUARDS ALREADY! Everyone knows it's there!"
• "A prime example of letting government solve a problem. More rules and regulations! The moment a group of citizens offer solutions and volunteerism suddenly its their jurisdiction."

To see full responses go to https://www.facebook.com/NnslOnline

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