Category: Yacht Club Business

Anchoring Rights- Word from OSA

The Ontario Sailing Association, in which GYC is a member, was one of the many boating associations which were instrumental in objecting to the proposed changes. Please see below.

Province Proposes Changes to Anchoring Rights
At the Ontario Regional Boating Advisory Council Meeting held in mid-January, members heard about an issue regarding the construction of “sea cans” on a barge unit being then considered a vessel.   The Council is made up of Transport Canada, the Coast Guard, the OPP, and organizations such as Ontario Sailing, Boating Ontario etc. and is currently chaired by Rick Layzell, CEO of Boating Ontario.

  In mid-February, the Province released a consultation paper to try to put wording in place for limitations on these types of units. The details can be found here: Proposal to amend Ontario Regulation 161/17 to the Public Lands Act to change the requirements for camping on water over Ontario’s public lands.   Unfortunately, the materials presented inadvertently included the potential for affecting traditional boating in the Province, including anchoring as a “right of navigation”. Ontario Sailing, our members, and other interested parties have inundated the Province with responses to this issue.  

Ontario Sailing’s Executive Director, Glenn Lethbridge, has received a phone call from the Honourable Graydon Smith, Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry, regarding this issue. The Hon. Minster apologized and stated very clearly that they do not have any intention to affect our sector and this was a error in the way the proposal was written. Lethbridge has also had a follow up call with the Minister’s Chief of Staff to confirm this. Calls to Boating Ontario’s CEO Rick Layzell by the Minster and their staff conveyed the same message.

  The Ministry will go through the process of hearing from the sector and will make sure this confusion is cleared up so as to not affect our activities.   Ontario Sailing asked Michael Vollmer, P. Eng. and former President of Ontario Sailing,  to write a opinion regarding the way the amendment was written, as he is a recognized expert in recreational boating matters in Canada.   The Ontario Government, in response to the creation of “Float Homes” on several lakes, has proposed to limit the right to anchor on most bodies of water in the province. The Provincial Crown owns the lakebed. This will have a serious impact on boaters wishing to anchor while cruising, even for short periods, such as lunch. On a more serious note, it will effectively eliminate many “safe harbours” used in bad weather.

  The creation of these floating homes on barges, which are either anchored or tied to the shore and intended to be permanent in their location, has landowners concerned about their property rights and their own appreciation of the water. The Province wants to change the Regulations governing “camping on water” to control these “floating accommodations”.   The Province proposes to define vessels with accommodation as “liveaboards” and “houseboats” (watercraft intended primarily for use in navigation equipped with facilities for overnight stays while travelling). The definition would exclude floating accommodations or float homes (house-like structures incorporating a floatation system, intended for use or being used or occupied for residential or longer-term purposes and not primarily intended for, or usable in, navigation) or barges with residential units or camping facilities. They then propose to control anchoring for liveaboards and houseboats. Presumably, float homes would be governed by new regulations, which we have not seen.

  There is some concern over jurisdiction, as the Federal Government has sole control over “navigation” and the courts have found that “anchoring” is part of the “practice of navigation”. The Province frames their proposal as “camping on water” and is attempting to apply rules for camping on land to lakes and rivers. This is their proposal:   reduce the number of days that a person can camp on water at one location in each calendar year from 21 days to 7 days;increase the distance that a camping unit on water must move to a different location from 100 meters to 1 kilometer; amd.add a new condition to prohibit camping on water within 300 meters of a developed shoreline, including any waterfront structure, dock, boathouse, erosion control structure, altered shoreline, boat launch and/or fill. “Camping” within 300 meters of shore would be allowed in front of vacant land.   The intent of these changes is to minimize the impacts of camping on-water and ensure camping on-water remains a temporary activity. According to the Province, none of these changes would impact a boater’s ability to navigate, including reasonable mooring.  

The Province also claims these regulations would not impact the common law right of navigation and reasonable moorage or federal regulations of navigation. It is the opinion of Ontario Sailing that these proposals will have a negative impact on our use of the water, and we will defend boaters’ rights to navigate freely.   Any questions regarding this issue can be directed to Glenn Lethbridge.

NEW POLICY – safety at GYC

NEW POLICY FOR GYC

Five months ago, The Board of Directors of GYC became aware of a provincial law enacted in 2018 called Rowan’s Law (Concussion Safety). The Act imposes various requirements on all sport organizations. At the February meeting, the Board of Directors adopted a policy to address these requirements. This policy is geared to protect the corporation and those involved in all aspects of sail racing at GYC. It does this mainly by making sailors aware of the dangers of concussions, how to recognize when a concussion has happened, and how to help someone who has suffered one.

A link for the adopted policy is located directly below and may be accessed at any time on the GYC website in SailBoat Racing, and the clubhouse bulletin Board.

GYC-Concussion-Policy-Feb-6-2023.pdf

If interested in further background, please see below:

Seventeen-year-old Rowan Stringer loved rugby. She died tragically in May 2013.  Rowan suffered what is known as Second Impact Syndrome—catastrophic swelling caused by a second injury to a brain still healing from previous trauma. Rowan collapsed on the field on May 8, 2013, and died four days later. Rowan is believed to have experienced three concussions over six days while playing rugby. She had a concussion but didn’t know her brain needed time to heal. Neither did her parents, teachers or coaches.

The result of a coroner’s inquest was that Rowan’s death was preventable and so Ontario legislation Bill # 193, Rowan’s Law, was enacted.   The last Wednesday of every September is designated as Rowan’s Law Day to honour Rowan Stringer’s memory and raise awareness about concussion safety.  Coincidently, Wednesday is a regular sailboat race night at GYC.

Recommendation from the GYC Ad-hoc Racing Committee:

A recommendation was recently sought, by the Board of Directors, from the GYC ad-hoc Racing Committee on the policy related to Rowans’ Law and its applicability to the club.  The findings were reported back at the February Board meeting which indicated that although our racing activities are currently less formal than other clubs in Ontario, they felt it was prudent to ensure that all provincial requirements were followed by GYC.  

Adoption of Policy
The GYC recently became a member of the Ontario Sailing Association to assist the Board to access a variety of policies that have been developed and legally vetted by the OSA in conjunction with the national body, Sail Canada.    The Ontario Sailing Association policy for Concussion Management was adopted by motion at the Board of Directors meeting on February 6, 2023.   These policies are adopted in clubs all across Ontario, creating a universally familiar body of knowledge for protection of sailors across the province.  
     
Accessing Documents:  

The procedures and videos can be readily accessed by the GYC and the public in the Ontario Sailing Website below.
  https://ontariosailing.ca/member-services/concussion-information/  

If someone suffers an injury, the information is available to guide anyone in the steps to be taken.  

  These current links below, will be accessed on the OSA website by the GYC racing committee, as our 2023 season opens.    

Ontario Sailing Concussion Management and Return to Sport Policy and Procedures  
Ontario Sailing Concussion Code of Conduct – Athletes and Participants
Ontario Sailing Concussion Code of Conduct – Coaches
Ontario Sailing Concussion Code of Conduct – Designated Person
Procedures for Removal & Return to Sailing Handout
Concussion Recognition Tool (CRT5)

Moving Forward:

The Board is continuing in 2023 with the hard work involved in researching and discussing current provincial laws. In the last ten years the number of legislative requirements for clubs and organizations has grown substantially.

Change is difficult for all of us at GYC, as we try to understand and comply with current laws. The Ontario Sailing Association has been providing support as we review challenging topics which are now required by all non-profit corporations, including the GYC.

Two of the upcoming challenging topics for which we are awaiting recommendations include a Code of Conduct and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, required by non-profit corporations of Ontario (with employees).

what is ONCA?

What is ONCA?

The Ontario Corporation Act was replaced in Oct 2021 by the new Ontario’s Not–for–Profit Corporations Act 2010 (ONCA).  Corporations such as the GYC have three years to transition their by-laws to align with the new act, and Oct 2024 is the government deadline.

What are we doing about it?

The GYC Ad-hoc By-Laws committee has started to meet and work on this task.

How will this affect us?

GYC will continue to operate in much the same way.

The adoption of ONCA creates changes primarily the way the bylaws are written rather then how we operate. 

What if we don’t comply?

If this is not completed by the deadline, then the corporation will not be able to use our own specific bylaws and will be required to use the default by-laws provided for in the Act.

How will it happen?

The Membership will be involved at a point in the process for these changes. Approval will be required by the Board and thereafter by 2/3 of the Membership voting at a general meeting.

Stay tuned.