With more people out on the land, Inuvik plans to loan life-jackets to summer boaters

Boating season is just around the corner in Inuvik, N.W.T., and the town is hoping to help residents enjoy the waters safely — by providing 100 life-jackets to residents through a loan program.

Grant Hood, the town's senior administrative officer, said the idea of the program was recently raised by town councillors, in an attempt to promote water safety.

"They noticed that at our boat launch, there were a number of people that didn't have flotation devices," Hood said.

The town has loaned out life-jackets to residents before, according to Hood. The aquatic supervisor for the town's pool suggested they do it again, leading to the planned program.

Hood said the town has about 100 life-jackets that they are hoping to make available. First, the life-jackets need to be tested, which can't happen until pool access is allowed. 

Inuvik's pool, located in the Midnight Sun Recreation Complex, has been closed for weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A personal flotation device could save your life.- Davonna Kasook, Inuvik's Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary

Hood said he may reach out to the territory's public health office in a couple of weeks to get special permission to test the jackets while following physical distancing guidelines. 

Once that happens, the town will operate a loaner program — either at the boat launch or by signing them out at the recreation complex.

"Boating safety is something where we don't want to see any tragedies, and this is our way of potentially helping people and reducing that risk."

People out on the land leads to increased safety focus

The town's plans come during a time where there have been more people on the land than usual, following suggestions made by the territory's chief public health officer.

Davonna Kasook, a deputy leader with Inuvik's Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary, expects this trend to continue and hopes people are extra cautious during river breakup.

"Breakup is the most dangerous time to be in or around the water because the current is so strong," said Kasook. "It only takes a few seconds for people to get hypothermia ... and I just hope people are going to get out and be safe."

Youth are particularly vulnerable, she said, as they often require fitted jackets that aren't typically accessible in Inuvik.

Kasook has been working with a representative from Operation Life Preserver, a program by the Canadian Ranger Foundation and the Canadian Safe Boating Council, in order to get life-jacket and boat safety education into the town's schools.

"There are so many communities who don't have children-sized life-jacket[s], or life-jackets in general," said Kasook. 

Kasook recently received educational materials and whistles from the program. She says she is still waiting on a few hundred kids life-jackets. She originally planned to hand them out in schools in June, but those plans have changed due to the ongoing pandemic.

She said she might delay the program until next year, or if restrictions ease, potentially hold the program at Chief Jim Koe Park. 

"A personal flotation device could save your life; it could save someone else's life. I just hope people take it seriously."