Bob Peart, who chairs Friends of Shoal Harbour in North Saanich and has faced his own hurdles with abandoned and wrecked boats, says that the "situation has built up" since Private Buoy Regulations was transferred from the Coast Guard to Transport Canada in 2004. As Transport Canada confirmed, it never received additional funding or staff when the switch happened.
Despite the Wrecked, Abandoned or Hazardous Vessels Act coming into law in 2019 making it illegal to abandon a boat in Canada, Peart criticizes that only two fines have been issued under it, where there "probably should have been 300."
"It's extraordinarily complex, and it shouldn't be," Peart said. "The fact is, Transport Canada has got the regulations right now to enforce both derelict boats and the control of private moorings, and they're choosing not to enforce the regulations."
The full article can be read here. It appeared in the Victoria News Dec. 18, 2024 at 5:00pm and was filed by Sam Duerksen
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