Drinking in a canoe is illegal in Canada, but that could soon change
Tipsy canoeing may soon be a thing — at least, if the Canadian government relaxes some of its impaired driving laws.
Throughout Canada, it's currently illegal to drink and boat. If you're found to be under the influence while in a canoe, kayak, raft, or other recreational water vessel, it's like being caught drinking and driving a car. That may change with a bill to decriminalize drunken boating that's up for vote.
Impaired driving legislation going through Parliament would change the law so that a muscle-powered vessel (like a kayak or canoe) would be exempt from driving laws, according to the National Post.
The new language would change the legality of boating while drinking — but it seems plenty of boaters already drink on the water. Now they'll just do it legally.
The Canadian Safe Boating Council isn't too pleased about the potential law change — proponents of dry boating see it as a safety threat. However, if the new rules go into effect, other drinking laws will still remain. Underage drinking and regulations about drinking in public won't be touched.
The drunken boating legislation comes as the country is cleaning up its impaired driving regulations for the legalization of recreational marijuana next year.
Sasha is a news writer at Mashable's San Francisco office. She's an SF native who went to UC Davis and later received her master's from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. She's been reporting out of her hometown over the years at Bay City News (news wire), SFGate (the San Francisco Chronicle website), and even made it out of California to write for the Chicago Tribune. She's been described as a bookworm and a gym rat.
