Andrew Vigars, 17, tries on his life jacket. The Widdifield student wants regulations changed to require their use while on the water. Photo by Jeff Turl.

Andrew Vigars, 17, tries on his life jacket. The Widdifield student wants regulations changed to require their use while on the water. Photo by Jeff Turl.

The tragic drowning death of Chris Stanley Sunday has renewed calls for laws forcing boaters to wear life jackets.

The body of the young fisherman was located in Lake Nosbonsing shortly after 8:25 Sunday evening.

Andrew Vigars, 17, was a school acquaintance of Chris at Widdifield Secondary School.

“ After I heard of his death Monday morning I was sitting with some friends and we were talking about life jacket safety and how we couldn't believe how it wasn't mandatory,” he told Baytoday.

So he put out a petition on the internet to see if he could get support.

“Within an hour I had 100 signatures, and by the end of the day almost a thousand,” he said.

Andrew's goal is 10 thousand.

“I'm very optimistic about this and with enough media, and help from MPP Vic Fedeli, we can definitely reach that goal---I mean the higher the better.”

Fedeli says he will taking the petition to Queen's Park to be read in the legislature July 7th.

The Transport Canada website states the regulation as, “for recreational boats in Canada there is a legal requirement to have one Canadian approved personal flotation device or lifejacket of appropriate size for each person on board."

But the law does not force anyone, including children, to actually wear a life-jacket.

The OPP have been calling on Ottawa for four years for a new law to require everyone in small boats to wear life jackets in a bid to curb Canada’s average 180 boating-related fatalities each year.

You can sign Andrew's petition here:

https://www.change.org/en-CA/petitions/canadian-federal-government-life-jackets-should-be-made-mandatory-for-all-boaters-and-other-personal-water-crafts-of-all-ages-at-all-times

This is the text of Andrew's petition.

To:

Canadian Federal Government, Ministry of Transportation- Glen Murray

Life jackets should be made mandatory for all boaters at all times including other water crafts. If not followed, fines should be made and further consequences should include suspension and/or boater's license revoked. This has been an issue for quite some time now and has resulted in many deaths of all ages. There are laws in place for seat-belts, motorcycle helmets, and other safety precautions. This is a necessary action that needs to take place as it should a long time ago. Incidents like Chris' can be prevented.

Sincerely,

[Your name]

Meanwhile there is a video tribute to Chris Stanley. You can view it here.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=904442819571641