After a deadly summer on the water in B.C., four Squamish friends are advocating for rescue equipment to be installed at provincial parks.
B.C. has recorded a spike in drownings, with 42 people dying so far this year.
There were 27 deaths in the same time frame last year, according to the B.C. and Yukon Lifesaving Society.
Lenea Grace, the executive director for the society, said the increase is alarming.
“We want to equip British Columbians to make safe choices when they’re on the water,” Grace said.
In some of the deaths, Grace said, people were not wearing a life jacket.
“An average of over 40 per cent of drownings in B.C. involve non-use of a life jacket,” she said.
In late May, a couple died after falling from a paddleboard at Browning Lake near Squamish, at Murrin Provincial Park.
After the tragedy, four friends — Auni Dayton, Ella Henriques, Zoë Prescott and Zeia Dayton — came together and floated an idea of how they could help improve safety.
“I’ve always actually been passionate about policy, and I’ve always been interested in what someone can do as a citizen to speak to their government,” Henriques said.
Together, the group wrote a letter to the District of Squamish’s mayor and council back in July asking for improvements to be made to the local swimming lakes.
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“We want to see life jacket-loaner systems, we want to see better signage, we want to see better swimming education,” Prescott said.
Henriques said they’d also like to see rescue buoys or rings near the waterfronts at the provincial lakes such as Alice Lake, Browning Lake and Cat Lake.
“It’s really not that much, not costly at all, since each is like $200,” Henriques said.
District of Squamish Mayor Armand Hurford then wrote a letter to B.C.’s Ministry of Environment and Parks encouraging the safety initiatives.
“I really think that in those particular places, there’s not only a need but a responsibility,” Hurford said.
He believes the province has an obligation to ensure safety for people.
“It’s important for those multi-jurisdictions to come together and to take actions that will address this,” Hurford said.
Both the mayor and the group of advocates have not heard back from the province.
In an email statement to CBC News, the Ministry of Environment and Parks said B.C. Parks does not provide life jackets or rescue stations in provincial parks and does not have an intention to change this practice.
“People recreating in provincial parks are expected to know how to safely conduct activities in parks, including swimming and other water-based activities,” states the ministry.
Having loaner life jackets that people can easily use, is a step that Grace feels could prevent deaths.
“I’m disappointed to hear this because these are steps that would make a considerable difference between life and death should a situation arise,” Grace said.
Lifesaving Society is hopeful Transport Canada would implement mandatory life jackets for adults on paddleboards.
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“We continue to advocate and support this endeavour,” Grace said.
As for the group of four friends, they aren’t stopping spreading their message.
“The sooner this type of stuff gets installed, the sooner we prevent drownings and the one less person that has to drown,” Henriques said.
