New Ontario law takes drivers' licences from drunk boaters

Starting immediately, Ontario boaters caught operating a boat while impaired can lose their highway driver's licence.

The provincial legislature unanimously passed a private member's bill late Thursday as one of the last items of business before the legislative session ended for the summer.

The bill was immediately sworn into law.

The new law gives police the power to hand out 12-hour suspensions if an alcohol breath test reveals the boater is above the legal limit.

The court also has the ability to take away a highway motor vehicle licence for a year if the boater is convicted of drunk boating.

Toronto lawyer Ken Crompton has campaigned for the new law for the past three years since his son Pete was killed by a drunk boater on Lake Joseph in Muskoka.

"Other families may now be prevented from having the same experience my family has gone through with the loss, in our case, of Pete," said Crompton.

In the past decade, three similar private member's bills have failed to pass.