The mayor of View Royal is urging the Capital Regional District to rethink its decision not to station lifeguards at Thetis Lake.
David Screech wrote a letter to the district in July, calling for lifeguards to be placed on the main beach after two near-drowning incidents over the summer.
The issue went to the CRD Parks Board on Wednesday, where members voted to accept a staff report focusing on signage and water safety education rather than placing lifeguards at regional parks.
“There wasn’t a whole lot of discussion, that’s particularly what bothered me,” Screech said. “I think clearly we need to have the discussion about safety at the lake and how do we manage that.”
There have been five drowning deaths at Thetis Lake since 1999.
Several of the serious incidents involved international visitors with limited knowledge of English.
“That beach at Thetis gets busier and busier every year, there’s a lot of children there,” said Screech.” “More signs doesn’t help when most of the people who have drowned or had problems of english being a second language.”
The mayor says the CRD has an obligation to help View Royal with safety at the lake and that he will lobby his colleagues to re-open the discussion about lifeguards.
“All we’re asking for is to have a lifeguard on the busy main beach during the summer months,” he added. “The evidence is clear that that could be very helpful in the event of a dangerous situation.”
