Local municipalities including the Town of Oakville are ramping up efforts to inform residents about winter water safety with billboard messages, extra bylaw presence at storm water ponds and frequent social media alerts. But while public service announcements seem to be everywhere, it appears the town has an uphill battle convincing people to stay off the ice.
West Oak Trails resident Jennifer Goicoechea says despite the prominent signage and warm weather, she routinely sees people on Stratus Parkette, a large L-shaped storm water pond behind her house. “Every winter you see it. Even right now, there’s a hockey game going on,” she said in a phone discussion Tuesday afternoon. “A couple weekends ago, there must have been 25 people on it, people skating and walking their dogs. It’s never frozen around the perimeter -- there’s always water. There were even ducks in the water at one end.”
She says she has always felt uneasy seeing people use the pond to skate, the death of the 11-year-old Milton boy who fell through thin ice in December, has made her extra nervous. “I do think that could happen (here). I always cringe whenever I see people on the ice.”
She makes sure to counsel her nine-year-old twins: “Just because you see people on the ice, doesn’t mean it’s safe.”
The town released a statement this week reminding residents that “storm water management ponds are designed to retain water runoff and slowly release it back into receiving water courses. Factors such as continuously flowing water, fluctuating temperatures, and runoff pollutants like road salt, make these bodies of water (frozen or open water) especially unpredictable… Although they may look inviting, they are not safe and should be avoided.”
Echoing Goicoechea’s sentiments, Town of Oakville Fire Chief Paul Boissonneault says “we don’t want anyone on storm water management ponds. The strength of ice can’t be judged simply by its appearance or the temperature outside. At this time of year, parents are reminded to educate children about ice safety.” He encourages bystanders who observe people using stormwater ponds to speak with the individuals or contact the town.
According to an emailed statement from Selena Campbell, the town’s director of municipal enforcement, bylaw officers have not ticketed anyone this season for being on the ice, although they do have the authority to issue $300 penalties. “Our municipal enforcement officers look to educate first, but if needed may enforce under the Parks By-law. Officers can also enforce, with Halton Regional Police assistance, under the Trespass to Property act.”
Lynn Lau
Message from the Fire Chief: Stay Off Thin Ice
Oakville Fire Chief Paul Boissonneault stands in front of one of two ponds at Memorial Park in North Oakville.
Even as town staff were preparing an ice safety video Wednesday afternoon featuring Boissonneault at one end of sprawling Memorial Park, just over the pedestrian bridge maybe 400 metres away, a determined man could be seen in the middle of the park’s other pond pushing a snowblower. As a pair of bylaw officers approached, the man disappeared, leaving a neat line of cleared ice behind him.
Like the man pushing the snowblower, Oak Park resident Braden DaSilva, 25, is finding it difficult to square the posted warnings with years of personal experience skating on that very pond.
Possibly voicing the sentiments of many of the most committed pond users, DaSilva argues the pond has always served as an important community gathering place. “When I was a kid growing up, it didn’t matter who you were or where you came from, everyone felt welcome to jump in on a game of pond hockey. People would leave their nets so other people can use them and they would leave their shovels so other people could clear the snow.”
He says ice safety was not something his family took lightly -- his father would not let the kids skate without first assessing three parameters: at least two weeks of unbroken subzero temperatures, minimum ice thickness of four inches as measured by way of a drill and rule, and finally, visible ice colour with clear blue being the best, white being less stable, and worst: grey or black, which he was taught means there is water just below.
Using those parameters himself as a young adult, DaSilva says he has never had any problems. While he says he has not personally ventured onto the ice yet this season because the weather seems like it's been too warm for proper ice to form, in a normal year, he would be on the pond every week.
While public safety groups such the Canadian Red Cross and the injury prevention charity Parachute have issued similar suggestions about judging ice quality, Parachute CEO Pamela Fuselli notes those recommendations are meant for people to assess naturally occurring bodies of water. “It’s important to take into account the fact that water bodies that have been designated as storm water management ponds, though they may look natural, are not the same as naturally occurring bodies of water.”
For DaSilva’s part, he says it’s a loss for the neighbourhood kids for the pond he grew up on to be permanently off limits. “I come from a big hockey family, I grew up playing hockey since I was six years old. I’ve always skated at the Glen Ashton pond.”
