P.E.I. lobster boat captain jailed 9 months for deaths of 2 men

A Prince Edward Island lobster boat captain has been sentenced to nine months in jail on two counts of dangerous operation of a conveyance causing death.

Clarence Barry White will also be prohibited from operating a vessel for three years. He will, however, be able to work on his fishing boat after his release from jail, with someone else at the helm.

White had put his 20-metre boat on autopilot and was filling out his log book on the water off Beach Point in June 9, 2018, when the vessel struck another fishing boat broadside, killing two of the five people aboard. 

Justin MacKay and Chris Melanson's relatives had given victim impact statements in an earlier court proceeding.

"He pointed his vessel for home, engaged his autopilot and hoped for the best," Justice Gregory Cann said of White while announcing his sentencing decision on Thursday.

"He placed himself in control of a lethal weapon weighing thousands of pounds and then abandoned control."

The Crown had been seeking 24 to 30 months of imprisonment, while the defence argued for house arrest, a jail sentence to be served on weekends, or a suspended sentence with probation and fine.

White was found guilty following a trial last year in P.E.I. Supreme Court, though not on the more serious charges that had been laid of criminal negligence causing death.  

Message being sent

The federal prosecutor says the sentence sends a message to fishing crews, truckers and others who operate heavy machinery on a professional basis.

"There may be situations where the responsibility and the need for care is heightened," said federal prosecutor Paul Adams. "In our view, this would be one of them. You have a professional fisher operating a sizeable vessel. There is an expectation the operation is done in a reasonable, prudent manner and obviously there was an egregious departure from that standard in this case."

In handing down the sentence, the judge cited cases involving texting while driving and speeding through a construction zone. 

"The distractions of modern society are many, from electronic devices to running a small business," Cann told the court. "Those distractions can get people killed ... Time behind the wheel is not time to get other things done."

Future mediation possible

The tragedy, almost four years ago, and the legal process that followed have been difficult for members of the close-knit fishing communities of Eastern Prince Edward Island.

The judge held out the possibility that White and the families of the victims might reconcile at some future date, perhaps through a process mediated by justice officials.

White's defence lawyer said his client is open to that possibility.

"Many of these people are related," said defence lawyer Brian Casey.

"It's helpful for everybody if they could move forward, but that depends on everybody being willing."