If you're planning to hit Calgarian waterways for some summer rafting fun then wear a life jacket or face a $500 fine. After two rafters were pegged with fines for not wearing jackets on the Elbow River last summer, they brought a constitutional challenge arguing that the city "had no jurisdiction to force people to wear flotation devices, since the federal government has control of waterways and only requires life-jackets to be at hand."
The Latouches, through their agent Lawrence Oshanek, argued that the city was stepping onto federal ground with its bylaw. Malik argued the city rules didn't contradict federal intent, but added to it.
Shriar, in her written decision, said "there is no real incompatibility between the provisions of the federal and local laws, in that Calgarians are not simultaneously required to do inconsistent things. The absence of a federally imposed obligation to wear or carry a flotation device is not inconsistent with the city bylaw requirement to actually wear it.
The rafters plan to appeal.
City has right to require life-jackets for river paddlers, judge rules
