Joe has spent all of his life in the Southwestern Ontario region of Canada. He grew up in Windsor, Ontario and spent time at the cottage from an early age at Rondeau Provincial Park on the North Shore of Lake Erie south of Chatham, Ontario. Having spent all of his time in the Great Lakes area, Joe started boating at a very early age, spending summers on the water.

Joe has a B.Comm (Hons.) from the University of Windsor, and most of his professional career in the private sector has been finance-related.

Joe’s volunteer career has spanned fifty years, with involvement in four major national/international organizations: Junior Achievement, Optimist International, the Canadian Power and Sail Squadrons (CPS-ECP) for the past 30 years, and most recently the CSBC for the past five years. Joe has also been actively involved in the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA) , the United States Power Squadrons and the National Safe Boating Council (NSBC). Locally, Joe serves as Secretary of the Board for the Windsor Yacht Club.

Joe currently still enjoys time at the family cottage in Rondeau Park, boating in the Great Lakes region, walking and biking.

Read Joe’s first Message from the Chair in our next newsletter, due out on August 15.

The CSBC is participating in the LCBO’s Provincial Donation Box Program between May 26 and June 22 this year. Next time you visit your local outlet, check out the bright red SOS card at the checkout. The CSBC would appreciate your support - and spare change - in this fundraising campaign to help make Canada’s waterways safer.

As part of our Boat Sober message, the CSBC has joined forces with Muskoka Grown, an Ontario licensed cannabis producer, to make boaters aware of the risks of cannabis consumption and boating. The recent legalization of cannabis in Canada raised concerns for boating safety advocate groups, enforcement agencies and first responders alike. Alcohol is a contributing factor in 40% of past boating fatalities, and it is uncertain how the legalization of recreational cannabis may increase that statistic. The CSBC and Muskoka Grown have launched a new summer-long campaign to remind boaters to ‘Smoke Safe’ and not to boat high.

Please visit www.dontboathigh.com and www.csbc.ca.

On May 8, the CSBC participated in Swim and Lifejacket Day on Parliament Hill along with the Red Cross, the Royal Life Saving Society and other organizations dedicated to fitness and water safety. CSBC Chair John Gullick took a few inflatable PFDs (lifejackets) for attending MPs and Senators to try on and said a few words about the work of the CSBC. 

The Canadian Safe Boating Council and its members are in the business of safe boating education and the promotion of wearing lifejackets while enjoying on the water activities. In about 85% of incidents on the water people are not wearing their lifejackets. In most of these cases they are not even present on board. Remarkably 65% of these cases occur within 20 meters of safety. Wearing a lifejacket will help give the time required for self-rescue or rescue by others. Lifejackets, like seat belts, do not work if you don’t wear them.

Almost all of the speakers mentioned the importance of wearing lifejackets and virtually every speaker wore one for the cameras. Our message continues to get through!

Registration is now open for this year’s Symposium, which will have a special focus on Shared Waterways. 

With the explosive growth in recreational boating, fuelled in part by smaller, more affordable vessels, hundreds of thousands of new boaters are taking to Canadian waters each year. With this increased traffic, it is important that boating regulators, harbour managers, waterfront developers, boating organizations, marine enforcement and boating safety stakeholders take a proactive approach to developing educational strategies to ensure all boaters understand their responsibilities to share Canada’s waterways. In September, join managers of busy waterways, boating associations and government officials from across Canada and internationally to discuss the issues and explore solutions.

To register for the Symposium and to book your room, go to  https://csbc.ca/en/events/annual-symposium/symposium-details.

On May 2 and 3, the Canadian Safe Boating Council, hosted by Technical Rope & Rescue, conducted a Cold Water Immersion/Rescue Instructor Workshop in Bauline, Newfoundland. The intent was to train first responders on how best to extract, perform triage, package and transport potentially hypothermic victims to emergency medical services (EMS).  Specifically, the workshop provided key information on the following topics:

The next CSBC Cold Water Workshop will be held on September 16 – 17 in Port Credit, Ontario, in conjunction with the CBC Symposium. For more information, and to register, click here https://csbc.ca/en/events/cold-water-workshop

If your organization is interested in conducting a Cold Water Workshop in your area, please contact Ian Gilson ( igilson@rogers.com)

As you are out on the water this summer, keep your eyes open for someone who is making a significant contribution to boating safety – an individual, a group or an organization. Nominate them for a Canadian Safe Boating Award, and save the date of the CASBA Awards gala on January 19, 2020 in Toronto.

https://csbc.ca/en/events/casbas/nomination-form

CSBC members have a 40% discount on all Coleman products ordered through the Coleman website. In line with common practices, the Stearns/Coleman Canada on-line discount has been changed to ensure on-line security. The new passcode will be communicated directly to CSBC members. Why not become a CSBC member, or renew today to take advantage of this great member benefit?

https://csbc.ca/en/about-us/membership

In February 2018, the Government of Canada introduced an Act to enact the Impact Assessment Act and the Canadian Energy Regulator Act, to amend the Navigation Protection Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts (Bill C-69). The proposed changes to the Navigation Protection Act in Bill C-69 would create a new Canadian Navigable Waters Act (CNWA). This new Act would deliver on the Government’s promise to restore protections and put in place modern safeguards to protect the public right of navigation by introducing navigation protections on all navigable waters in Canada. For more information on the status of Bill C-69, please visit the Parliament of Canada website.

While Bill C-69 undergoes review by the Senate, Transport Canada is proactively consulting on its review of the Minor Works Order, which would be updated should the proposed Canadian Navigable Waters Act become law. 

Transport Canada has published a Minor Works Order discussion paper to seek feedback on the existing categories of works and potential new classes that could be added in the Order. The deadline for providing input on the discussion paper is June 28, 2019. 

To support input from Indigenous groups on the Minor Works Order, Transport Canada plans to launch a round of participant funding during the Spring 2019.  

What is the Minor Works Order?

The Minor Works Order names the types of "minor" works that are likely to slightly interfere with navigation (for example, cottage docks). Minor works do not require an approval if the work meets the criteria and requirements found in the Order. Currently, the Minor Works Order only applies to works on scheduled navigable waters. Under the proposed CNWA, the Minor Works Order would lay out the requirements that minor works would need to meet on any navigable water in Canada.

For more information on the CNWA, please visit https://letstalktransportation.ca/CNWA.