This is cute. And yes, paddling a canoe wasted in Canada is a crime. Petty, but it’s a crime for some reason, even though it’s also a pastime.
CBC: Police officers in Grand Forks, B.C., say they arrested a man for canoeing while intoxicated.
The incident happened in the early afternoon of June 29 on Christina Lake in B.C.’s southeastern Interior.
Under B.C. law, the same impairment rules that apply to driving also apply to boating. According to the province, it’s illegal to operate or control a vessel while impaired by alcohol or with a blood alcohol level of more than .08.
In a statement, Grand Forks RCMP say they were called to the lake after someone reported an intoxicated man in a canoe. With the help of Christina Lake Fire Department’s boat, RCMP say they went out onto the water and “made contact” with the 51-year-old local man, but he refused to comply with their directions.
“The man eventually made his way to a dock and hid under there for several minutes, again refusing to comply,” reads the RCMP statement.
After several minutes, police say an officer got into the water and brought him out.
He was then taken into custody and transported to the RCMP’s Grand Forks detachment where he was “investigated for impaired operation” of a boat, say police.
This story is littered with Canadiana:
- Man arrested for being too drunk to operate a canoe
- Man won’t comply and hides under the dock like he’s invisible
- Instead of Tasering him, Police got into the water to help the man into a waiting cruiser
- Charged him with partying too hard in a fiberglass shell with no motor
- No shots fired
We let people build a lawless city in the middle of Ottawa last February – for three solid weeks – but floating hammered in a Canoe gets you a court date in BC. That tells a story of how fucking weird Canadian law can be when upheld or not. Laws vary from province to province, as do the sensibility of the charging officers, so maybe RCMP in BC had a quota, or they were a little bored. Or perhaps this guy was paddling into rocks for an hour, which was a wellness thing. Either way, it’s illegal to paddle a canoe hammered.
Good to know.
Dean Blundell
Dean Blundell is a Canadian radio personality. Best known as a longtime morning host on CFNY-FM (The Edge) in Toronto, Ontario. In 2015 he was named the new morning host on sports radio station CJCL (Sportsnet 590 The Fan). Dean started his career in radio in 2001 and for nearly 20 years been entertaining the radio audience. Dean’s newest venture is the launch of his site and podcast which is gaining tremendous momentum across North America.
