British Columbia

First Nation proposes water guardian program after child's death in North Vancouver boat crash

The Tsleil-Waututh First Nation is proposing a water guardianship program to educate people in their traditional waters, a month after the death of a child in a speedboat crash in North Vancouver.

Lionel Hall, 10, was killed after a speedboat driver crashed into an inflatable tube in Cates Park on June 7

A father smiles while a mother carries a child in her arms.
Jason Hall, left, Shelley Klassen, centre, and their son Lionel Hall, right. The family says the last thing on their mind when their son went on an inflatable tube was the possibility of this kind of a collision. (Submitted by the Hall family)

The Tsleil-Waututh First Nation is proposing a water guardianship program to educate people in their traditional territory, a month after the death of a child in a speedboat crash in North Vancouver.

Lionel Hall, 10, was killed on June 7 at Cates Park when a speedboat crashed into an inflatable tube carrying him and another child in the water near the park's boat launch. The other child was critically injured.

Alcohol and speed are believed to be factors in the crash, according to RCMP, with the speedboat driver arrested on the scene. He is due in court in August.

Deanna George, an elder and councillor with the Tsleil-Waututh First Nation, said Hall's death hit her community hard.

An Indigenous woman speaks in a room.
Deanna George, elected councillor for the Tsleil-Waututh First Nation, said the death of Lionel Hall hit her community hard. (Nav Rahi/CBC)

Cates Park, a popular park in North Vancouver's Deep Cove neighbourhood, is located in the nation's traditional territory and is known as Whey-ah-Wichen in their language.

George says that the nation's council has passed a resolution and is talking to different levels of government to set up a water guardianship program and educate boaters in the region.

People line up on a dock on a sunny day.
The Cates Park boat launch in North Vancouver, B.C., last June. It is one of only a few remaining public boat launches in the Lower Mainland. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

"I know the open water just seems like, 'Woo hoo! Let's speed; let's do stuff,'" George said. 

"But if you don't know the waterways, if you don't know what's coming in and out, the traffic in this area, then yes, you are ignorant."

WATCH | Child killed in boat crash at Cates Park: 

Child killed in boat crash at North Vancouver's Cates Park identified

30 days ago
Duration 2:20
The child killed in a speedboat crash on Saturday while tubing off Cates Park in North Vancouver has been identified as 10-year-old Lionel Hall. CBC's Leanne Yu has more on what happened and the calls for change.

George says the guardianship program would focus on educating boaters on rules that don't seem intuitive at first glance.

They include respecting others in the area, knowing the locations of canoe and kayak tours, and the value of being on First Nations territory.

A sign reads 'Cates Park Whey-ah-Wichen facing the wind.'
Cates Park is known as Whey-ah-Wichen in the Tsleil-Waututh language, which means 'faces the wind.' (Ben Nelms/CBC)

"The idea ... is that this is to keep our face within the territory, educate people on who we are, and why we are guarding our lands and our waters," she said.

"And hopefully that will build up the respect for it and [boaters] start abiding by rules that, like I said before, aren't really intuitive to people, like even littering."

A child smiles as he piggybacks a ride on his mother.
Lionel Hall with his mother, Shelley Klassen, in this photo posted to a fundraising website. (GoFundMe)

Shelley Klassen, Hall's mother, said the idea of having First Nation members out on the water as part of a water guardianship program was a "brilliant idea."

Jason Hall, Lionel's dad, said that regulations haven't been keeping up with the number of boaters that are now out on the waters.

"Clearly, had there been a presence to at least monitor and ensure that all users of the water are acting in a safe manner — you know, this type of accident would have been avoided there," he told CBC News.

A man wearing a black jacket takes a selfie of himself and a younger boy wearing a red jacket and a scarf. They appear to be in the stands of a sports arena.
Lionel Hall, left, was killed in a boat crash on June 7, 2025. He's seen here with his father, Jason Hall. (Submitted by the Hall family)

Longstanding concerns in area

District of North Vancouver Mayor Mike Little said that there have been longstanding concerns about the boat traffic near Cates Park, which is among a select few public boat launches in the Lower Mainland.

He said the district would work with the First Nation and the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority on solutions to address the section of the Burrard Inlet around Cates Park.

A bearded man wearing glasses speaks in a park.
Mike Little, mayor of the District of North Vancouver, says that faster boats should be separated from slower ones around Cates Park in Deep Cove. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

"Some way to separate the traffic, I think, would be a big advantage," he said. "People who aren't accessing the boat launch shouldn't be hanging out around the boat launch.

"If there's faster traffic, it needs to be separated from some of the slower traffic," he added. 

"Larger boats need to be separated from the smaller boats. It's those interaction points [where] I think you see a lot of risk."

A boat passes by a pier on a sunny day.
A number of boats of different sizes use the Burrard Inlet near Cates Park. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

Authorities in support

A Transport Canada spokesperson said that the federal transport minister can designate local authorities to enforce rules if they make an application in writing.

The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority — which is responsible for boating traffic in the Burrard Inlet, the body of water where the crash happened — said it welcomed all efforts that contributed to improving safety on local waterways.

"Building meaningful partnerships with First Nations, including Tsleil-Waututh Nation, and advancing our shared priorities is central to our work at the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority," a spokesperson wrote.

A spokesperson for the Canadian Coast Guard said that First Nations in B.C. have a long history of responding to marine emergencies and have extensive knowledge of the local waters.

"Increasingly, the Canadian Coast Guard is benefiting from and integrating that knowledge and expertise into many of the ways we approach search and rescue," the spokesperson wrote.

A Public Safety Ministry spokesperson noted that many First Nations throughout B.C. have programs established under the "guardian" term, which vary from nation to nation and may not be related to policing activities.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Akshay Kulkarni

Journalist

Akshay Kulkarni is an award-winning journalist who has worked at CBC British Columbia since 2021. Based in Vancouver, he is most interested in data-driven stories. You can email him at akshay.kulkarni@cbc.ca.

With files from Amelia John