A troubling spike in water-related deaths has authorities and safety advocates urging boaters and swimmers across Ontario to take life-jacket use and water safety more seriously.

According to the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), 10 people have died in marine incidents in eastern Ontario so far this summer — more than double the number recorded by this time last year.

In every case, the victim was not wearing a life jacket.

“This is about education and changing the mindset to ensure everyone wears the proper gear, whether in a power boat or in a canoe,” said Chief Superintendent Lisa Wilhelm, OPP East Region Commander.

“This is about coming home safely and ensuring that everyone, adults and children, are safe on or near the water.”

The warning comes amid a series of devastating incidents that have already taken place in Ontario waters.

At a provincial park in Lake Erie, a 35-year-old man from Woodstock drowned while trying to save his daughter.

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Police recovered his body the next day.

In another tragic incident, an 18-year-old swimmer was pulled from Ipperwash Beach, unresponsive and later pronounced dead in hospital.

Just days later, a 44-year-old man died after diving from a boat into shallow water, the second fatality there in the same week.

While police emphasize the importance of life-jackets, experts say the broader issue is a lack of public awareness and enforcement, particularly when it comes to commercial and recreational boating safety.

Greg Swanson, chief regulator officer of SABA, an education and awareness NGO, told Global News that the statistics are very unfortunate.

“The fact that people are still out on the water without life-jackets… is surprising. It would save a lot of lives if people used them,” he said.

Swanson says SABA’s campaign is focused on promoting safety equipment and sound boating practices including better oversight of commercial charter operations.

“Our big thrust is to stop the illegal charters who seem to express very little care for their passengers… if you fall off their boat, you are on your own,” Swanson emphasized.

He also warned that many vessels, particularly in the unregulated charter sector, are not meeting federal safety standards. “Your boat needs to have specific equipment as set out by Transport Canada,” he said.

“And if you are not a swimmer… you really ought to put that thing on.”

Beyond life-jackets, Swanson stressed that safety also depends on proper training, especially in how to assist others in distress without endangering yourself.

“The practice is you cannot save someone by endangering yourself. If the person you are trying to rescue is capable, then use devices like life rings,” he explained.

For a child or disabled person, there is a tendency to expose yourself to an increased level of danger, Swanson added. “But there are practices to retrieve someone without drowning yourself, and wearing a life-jacket is one of them.”

As the OPP continues to investigate this summer’s fatal incidents, the message from both police and advocates remains urgent and pressing.

“If you are on or near the water this summer, ensure that you and your children are protected. Wear your life jackets,” the statement read.

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Arianna Goberdhan’s parents and sister are upset after learning that Goberdhan’s estranged husband, who murdered his pregnant wife to death seven years ago, will be eligible for day parole three years before what they were told was his parole eligibility date.

On Wednesday, the Goberdhan family said they missed a call from Correctional Services Canada but listened to a voicemail message directing them to a portal for victims online.

The family says they logged in and received a letter telling them an updated Correctional Plan Progress Report was available for Nicholas Baig, Goberdhan’s estranged husband. In the report, they learned Baig would be eligible to apply for unescorted temporary absences and day parole on April 8, 2031.

“At the sentencing in 2019, we were told he is going to be eligible for parole in 17 years, which means 2034, and that’s the date we had in the back of our minds,” said Sherry Goberdhan, Arianna’s mother.

It’s been more than eight years since her daughter was murdered, aged 27, on April 7, 2017. On that day, the body of nine-month pregnant Arianna — who was carrying Baig’s child — was discovered inside the Pickering home where Baig’s parents lived.

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She had been stabbed 17 times in her head, face, neck and body. She was dead when first responders arrived.

Baig, who was 25 at the time, fled the scene and was arrested the following night in Markham.

The unborn child, a girl whom Arianna was going to name Assara, also died.

In April 2019, the sentencing judge said, “The impact of his (Baig’s) senseless act of cruelty was profound and crushing.”

The family says, at that time, they were never notified that Baig would be eligible for day parole or unescorted day passes prior to 2034.

“Why weren’t we advised of this prior?” Sherry told Global News. “We’re just confused. Why did we only know about this today? Why didn’t we hear about this before? Why is no one communicating with us?”

“It’s not right, it’s unimaginable,” said Goberdhan’s younger sister, Carissa.

After the murder, the Goberdhan family was also frustrated that legislation prevented police from charging Baig with the death of the unborn child and felt the sentence was too lenient.

In 2023, the Goberdhans went to Ottawa to support Saskatchewan MP Cathay Wagantall, who brought a private member’s bill to encourage judges to consider physical or emotional harm as an aggravating factor during sentencing. Known as the Violence Against Pregnant Women Act, the bill was voted down.

“The Conservatives were brave enough to bring it to the floor for the vote, but unfortunately, they were defeated,” said Arianna’s father, Chan Goberdhan.

Correctional Services Canada said in an email to Global News that eligibility rates for life-sentenced offenders are calculated according to provisions in the Criminal Code of Canada. “Offenders may apply for unescorted temporary absence and day parole three years prior to their full parole eligibility date,” the agency wrote.

The family said they were also caught off-guard in July 2021, when they learned Baig had suddenly been transferred from Millhaven Maximum Security Institution to Beavercreek Medium Security Institution.

“What we have come to realize since 2017 is that the victims have no say. It’s not fair. It’s not fair at all,” said Sherry.

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The five members of Canada’s 2018 world junior hockey team who were acquitted Thursday of sexual assault are ineligible to play in the NHL as it reviews the judge’s findings, the league says.

Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dubé and Cal Foote were found not guilty of all charges after a high-profile trial centred on an alleged group sexual encounter in London, Ont., in 2018.

“The allegations made in this case, even if not determined to have been criminal, were very disturbing and the behavior at issue was unacceptable,” the NHL said in a statement to Global News.

“We will be reviewing and considering the judge’s findings. While we conduct that analysis and determine next steps, the players charged in this case are ineligible to play in the League.”

McLeod, Hart, Dubé and Foote were active NHL players at the time of their 2024 arrests, which came days after all four players were granted leave from their clubs.

Formenton, an Ottawa Senators draft pick, has not played in the NHL since 2022. He last played with the Swiss club HC Ambri-Piotta.

0:49
All 5 former World Junior players found not guilty in high-profile sex assault trial

The five men had been on trial since late April — accused of engaging in non-consensual group sex with a then-20-year-old woman in June 2018. All five men pleaded not guilty to sexual assault; McLeod also pleaded not guilty to an additional charge of being a party to the offence of sexual assault.

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“In this case, I have found actual consent not vitiated by fear. I do not find the evidence of E.M. to be either credible or reliable,” Ontario Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia said of the female complainant, known as E.M. in court documents as her identity is protected under a standard publication ban.

“With respect to the charges before this court, having found that I cannot rely upon the evidence of E.M. and then considering the evidence in this trial on the whole, I conclude the Crown can not meet its onus on any of the counts before me.”

Court heard the team was in London for events marking its gold-medal performance at that year’s championship, and that the complainant was out with friends when they met at a downtown bar on June 18, 2018.

After being with McLeod and his teammates at the bar, E.M. would go on to have consensual sex with McLeod in his room in the early morning hours of June 19. Court has heard that E.M., who testified she was drunk and not of clear mind, was in the washroom after she had sex with McLeod and came out to a group of men in the room allegedly invited by McLeod in the group chat.

It was then that the Crown alleged several sexual acts took place without E.M.’s consent, an argument Carroccia rejected in her ruling Thursday.

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NHL players on leave and facing sex assault charges still being paid

Hart, formerly of the Philadelphia Flyers; McLeod and Foote, formerly of the New Jersey Devils; and Dubé, formerly of the Calgary Flames were not re-signed by their respective teams last year after they were charged. Up until that point, they were still being paid while on leave to respond to the charges.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in February 2024 after the charges were filed in court that the league would not consider any punishment against the four players until the conclusion of judicial proceedings.

“I have repeatedly used the words ‘abhorrent, reprehensible, horrific and unacceptable’ to describe the alleged behaviors. And those words continue to apply,” he said at the time.

—With files from Global’s Aaron D’Andrea and Sean O’Shea

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