It has been almost one year since 10-year-old Lionel Hall was killed in a boating accident on Burrard Inlet near Cates Park.
“Almost a year ago, June 7, my son was out on a play date with one of his best friends and their family,” mom Shelley Klassen told Global News.
“Four children on the boat, three adults. They’re up for a great day on the water and tragedy struck… A Scarab boat came through and hit the boys direct, killing my son instantly and life altering injuries to the other child.”
Lionel’s mother is turning her family’s loss into advocacy, working with municipal and federal agencies to reduce conflict on the water and to get new legislation passed.
Lionel’s Law would specify and target reckless operation of marine vessels.
According to Klassen, marine law has not kept up with the volume of pleasure craft on the water.
“There’s nothing we can do to bring Lionel back, but we can try to do everything we can to make sure no family endures what we have to live with for the rest of our lives,” she said.
The speed limit on the water near Cates Park has been reduced since the accident.
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The federal government said in a statement that progress has been made. Watercraft licenses are now being renewed every five years and are required for all operators.
Klassen said she welcomes the change, but she wants better enforcement to go hand in hand with new rules.
“Yes, so the waters are federal jurisdiction, but they’re policed locally, and what we’re aiming to do is to get some more money, really, for the marine side of it,” Klassen said.
“We need more enforcement officers on the water. We need compliance checks. We need there to be a presence, at least in the busy boating months, the summer months, in busy areas like Cates Park.”
No charges have been laid as a result of the collision. The RCMP say the file remains open and the investigation continues.
Klassen said that Lionel has kept her going in this important walk.
“I feel very connected to Lionel,” she said.
“I’m lucky, I guess, in that way. I’ve made a lot of contact with other mothers who’ve lost their children, and everyone’s at different stages of grief, but Lionel came to me instantly, and I feel him; he still exists.
“He’s just no longer in his body, so I’m very connected with him. And that’s helped me a great deal in moving forward and being able to be there for my other kids and to take on really all this advocacy work.”
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