Should Humber Bay Park ban motorized boats? For safety, this Toronto resident group says yes

CBC

10 hours ago

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A group of Etobicoke residents living on Toronto's waterfront is pushing for the Humber Park shoreline to be the latest in the city where motorized watercrafts are banned, saying reckless boating is endangering swimmers and wildlife in the area.
The Friends of Humber Bay Park group wants the city to implement a motorized watercraft exclusionary zone for the park's shoreline, similar to a 200-metre bubble zone that was recently put in place at Hanlan's Point Beach on the Toronto Islands.
The group's president, Mike Janetakes, says dangerous boating is common near the Humber Bay Park shore, especially from Jet Ski renters.
"Our biggest concern is inexperienced boaters," he told CBC Radio's Metro Morning earlier this week, saying Jet Ski rentals don't require licences, training or insurance.
Just last week, two Jet Skis collided in the water near Humber Bay Park, according to Toronto police, sending one man to hospital with a leg injury. Police did not say whether the Jet Skis were rented.
It's incidents like that that have Friends of Humber Bay Park concerned for wildlife, swimmers, canoers and kayakers close to shore, said Janetakes. But he said he's hopeful the city will take action.
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Toronto council passed a motion last month requesting that PortsToronto ban boats and personal watercrafts within at least 150 metres of the shoreline at Woodbine Beach in the city's east end by June 2026.
The motion also condemns "illegal" rental business practices at the beach and nearby Ashbridges Bay, such as using and storing watercrafts without proper boating permits and operating them unsafely.
Coun. Amber Morley, who represents Etobicoke-Lakeshore where Humber Bay is located, added an amendment to the motion, asking city staff to "explore opportunities" of applying the motorized watercraft exclusion zone at Hanlan's Point to similar areas, including Humber Bay Park West and East.
Inexperienced operators a problem, police say
Toronto police's marine unit ran a four-day initiative last month targeting unsafe boating practices and unlicensed personal watercraft rentals on the city's waterfront.
Between July 9 and 12, police issued over 60 tickets — adding up to over $12,000 in fines — primarily for safety equipment violations and licensing issues, according to a police news release.
Over 20 bylaw charges were also laid during the initiative, including for illegal mooring and unauthorized business operations, and 14 Sea-Doos were towed.
"Each summer, the Marine Unit responds to as many as 10 complaints a day related to [personal watercrafts] — most often involving speeding, operating too close to shorelines, entering designated swim zones, and generally unsafe behaviour," police said in the release.
"Many of these complaints involve inexperienced operators who have received little or no training prior to getting on the water."
Jet Ski rental operator wants more regulation
Janetakes says Friends of Humber Bay would also like to see "legislation for Jet Skiers to have training, proper training, and proper insurance."
Raj Mehta, co-founder of Jetti, a Toronto-based Jet Ski rental company, says his company is also pushing for more regulation. But he says most reckless Jet Ski behaviour comes from people riding their own watercrafts or renting from unauthorized operators.
His company's watercrafts have built-in control modules that sense when the Jet Ski is too close to shore and automatically slow it down, he said. But renters aren't required to have safeguards, or to train clients.
"It's cash for keys with some companies," he said. "We've been trying to work with the city to get some sort of licensing framework in place … like mandate insurance, mandate control modules, mandate training."