Stormy weather strands three on Pelican Lake
In the afternoon of May 27, 2020, three people headed out fishing in a canoe approximately 10 kilometers from the community of Pelican Narrows. The weather took a turn, it began raining and large waves and strong winds followed. The boat did not have a motor and the group was unable to paddle back safely through the rough weather to the community. They were forced to shelter on an island.
Thankfully, they had a cell phone and were able to contact the RCMP for assistance around 7:45 p.m. "They reported that they paddled out to Macaroni Bay and were unable to come back because of the wind and waves. They had a bit of cellphone coverage and reached out for assistance. They were a 20-30 minute boat ride away and did the right thing by staying put in order to stay safe," said Cst. D'Auteuil.
"We found them completely soaked, they were quite cold and we provided emergency blankets to them. EMS met us on shore to look them over when we got back to Pelican Narrows around 9:30 p.m.," added Cst. Young.
600 Life Jackets Distributed in Northern Saskatchewan
The group had one life jacket with them, and the RCMP provided three more life jackets for the journey back to shore. They were able to keep the life jackets because of a life jacket distribution project, dubbed Operation Life Preserver, which came last year to the community. As part of the project, 600 life jackets were distributed to detachments and communities in northern Saskatchewan by the RCMP's North District. The program was designed by the Canadian Safe Boating Council and aims to help reduce the risk of drowning by distributing life jackets.
"A vast majority of travel and recreational activities in the north are done by way of water," said RCMP North District Commander, Supt. Munro. "By providing education and life preservers to communities, it helps provide front line education on water safety. It also gives police officers an opportunity to build relationships not only with adults, but youth and Elders, too. It becomes a joint sharing of knowledge, as members also learn to understand the importance of traditions, culture and ties to the land by Indigenous people."
Normally, Pelican Narrows RCMP would distribute the life jackets as part of their water safety school presentations. Because school was cut short in the spring due to the pandemic, the detachment has found alternate ways to distribute the life jackets in the community. "Our community is located on the shores of Pelican Lake and the lake is used daily for fishing and recreational activities," said Detachment Commander S/Sgt. Whitford, "We hope to hand out many more life jackets and increase life jacket accessibility to help keep our community members safe."