BURST
A year after 10-year-old Lionel Hall was killed while tubing near Cates Park , his parents are pushing for stricter marine regulations they hope will prevent similar tragedies.
Lionel was killed and a friend, also 10, was seriously injured after a speedboat collided with the inflatable tube they were riding near Cates Park in North Vancouver on June 7, 2025.
“We looked at everything that went wrong that day. It’s like opening a can of worms,” said mother, Shelley Klassen, on Thursday. “Every direction you look, it’s really, there’s nothing in place for that?”
Since Lionel’s death, Klassen and Jason Hall have been working with several officials and agencies, including local councillors, MLAs and MPs, the Port of Vancouver and Transport Canada to identify gaps in marine safety regulations and enforcement.
Although waterways fall under federal jurisdiction through Transport Canada, they are largely policed by local agencies that often lack the resources to effectively patrol the water, Klassen said.
“There’s really not a police presence on the water,” she said. “There’s no real deterrent for people who are, let’s say, reckless on the water.”
They have been advocating for what they call Lionel’s Law, which proposes changes to the Canada Shipping Act hat would define what reckless boating is and allow authorities to immediately suspend boating privileges following reckless or impaired operation.
There is no process to remove dangerous operators from the water in real time and no meaningful licence suspension process for reckless boaters, said Klassen, who is concerned that the alleged operator of the speedboat involved in the collision could return to the water this summer.
Klassen is also calling for increased marine enforcement, particularly in busy waterways during the summer months, manned safety kiosks at public boat launches to verify licensing and educate boaters, and reforms to Canada’s boating licensing system.
The federally mandated boating licence known as the PCOC — or the pleasure craft operator card — can be obtained after completing a course and a short online exam. The card does not expire and remains valid for life.
Klassen said she is to meet with Transport Canada officials next week and hopes the discussions will help advance some of the proposed changes.
She has also been in contact with the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, which shares stewardship responsibilities for Cates Park along with the District of North Vancouver, and they have expressed a willingness to explore extending its guardianship program onto the water, she said.
In May, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority implemented a five-knot or nine km/h speed zone near Cates Park before the summer boating season.
Klassen believes Lionel’s death may have been preventable if authorities had possessed stronger powers to intervene when concerns were raised about dangerous boating behaviour.
“I feel most boaters out there are cognizant of safety. It takes one bad apple to really devastate someone’s life.”
Following the collision, North Vancouver RCMP arrested the operator of the speedboat. Investigators said at the time they were examining speed and alcohol as factors. The man was released and no charges have been laid.
North Vancouver RCMP acknowledged the significant public interest in the case and the impact on Lionel’s family and the community.
“This investigation is complex in nature, and investigators are working diligently to ensure that all available evidence is carefully collected, reviewed, and presented to the B.C. Prosecution Service,” Cpl. Mansoor Sahak said in an email.
In May Klassen was at Cates Park, where she and her family go on the 7th of every month, and witnessed kite surfers near the boat launch narrowly avoid a collision with a speeding boat.
“It’s such a busy spot, and everyone just needs to be aware. When you’re mixing alcohol and speed and all of that into it, it’s just unfortunately bound to happen. It just happened to be my kid.”
Nearly a year after the tragic incident, the family, including Lionel’s two older siblings, still struggles with the loss.
“Every day we have to deal with the realization over and over again that Lionel is no longer here in the physical,” said Klassen. They try to focus on the joy Lionel had brought them, remembering him for his sense of humour and joie de vivre.
“He had a zest for life like no other, he really went for it, in everything he did,” she said. “The important things in life — to live, laugh, and love — that’s what he represented for our family.”