Transport Canada has identified seven instances of non-compliances on the ferry linking Laval and Île-Bizard, after a car fell into the current and the driver barely escaped the sinking vehicle.
On July 17, 2025, Michael DeMarinis was still inside his car as it was swept away by the waters of Rivière des Prairies.
The car had fallen in after the ferry detached from the dock as he was disembarking. The man in his 60s struggled against the current to escape his vehicle and reach shore.
“We are talking about a very strong current. You need to be 100 per cent equipped to save people’s lives,”DeMarinis said.
When he found himself in the water, “nobody knew what to do. It was ridiculous,” he recalled.
Employees and passengers tried to rescue him; one employee even jumped into the water without a flotation device to help — only to be swept away by the current as well.
Four days after the incident, Transport Canada conducted an inspection of the ferry.
According to the inspection report, obtained by Radio-Canada through the Access to Information Act, seven safety failures were identified that day.
Inspectors noted, among other things, that “crew members were not adequately trained for emergency situations.”
For starters, the lifeboat was locked “with a cable and a padlock.” There was no logbook for inspections and testing of emergency equipment on board. There were also no instructions regarding emergency equipment or training documents for new employees.
And, at the time of the incident, the rope attached to a life buoy became jammed and could not immediately be used, the report noted.
Ferry owner says staff were trained
Radio-Canada spoke briefly by phone with Renée Patenaude of Traverse Laval/Île-Bizard Inc., the company that owns the ferry.
Despite the report’s findings, she maintained the employees on site “had just been trained and retrained,” she said.
Patenaude added the company, in operation for more than two decades, has been compliant with all regulations.
Patenaude acknowledged, however, that on that particular day, “everything we did was terrible.”
“It was not the right thing for my captain to just watch the situation and do nothing,” she added.
As for the employee who jumped into the water, “he was faced with a situation where, despite the best training, he just did something stupid.”
Patenaude recognized that, in light of the incident, her employees would have reacted better with “additional training.”
“We can’t prepare for situations we never imagined could happen,” she said. “Did you think we saw that coming?”
Similar incident 4 years earlier
After the incident, DeMarinis learned a similar situation had occurred four years earlier.
Véronique Schami was driving onto the ferry in July 2021 when the vessel set off toward Laval before she had fully boarded.
“I desperately slammed on the brake and the clutch,” she said in an interview.
Mike Demarinis’ car fell off the ferry that connects Île Bizard to Laval-sur-le-Lac on July 17, 2025. (John Le Piane/Facebook)
While the operator and another employee tried to bring the ferry back to the dock, panic set in.
“I thought I was going to end up in the water,” Schami recalled. “I told myself I wasn’t going to survive and they would have to identify my body somewhere in Rivière des Prairies.”
The ferry, which travels from one shore to the other powered by the river current, eventually drifted close enough to shore for Schami to accelerate fully onto the vessel.
After disembarking, she stepped out of her vehicle to collect herself.
“By the time I turned around, the ferry had already left,” she said.
In its investigation report into the July 2025 incident, Transport Canada also noted that “no device to properly confirm the position of the mooring cylinders was installed.”
In the days that followed her experience, Schami said she tried to warn authorities about what happened.
She said her local Montreal police station could do nothing for her. She also reported the incident to the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) through the Securitas portal, which collects reports of potentially dangerous incidents, conditions or actions, she said.
Traverse Laval/Île-Bizard Inc. also filed a report. The TSB is responsible for assessing the relevance of a report and forwarding it, if necessary, to Transport Canada, the regulatory body.
However, in Schami’s case, Transport Canada has no record of the incident, according to a spokesperson.
In an email exchange, TSB media relations staff declined to comment on Schami’s complaint.
They did say the incident, as reported by Traverse Laval/Île-Bizard Inc., “was deemed not reportable.” As a result, no investigation was conducted.
Getting in touch with Traverse Laval/Île-Bizard Inc. took time, Schami said.
No apologies to victims
According to Schami, it was only after several attempts and a letter sent by mail that she was finally able to speak with Patenaude by phone. She demanded to know what corrective measures were being taken, but never heard back, she said.
“That doesn’t ring a bell,” Patenaude responded.
“I’m not denying anything. I’m saying I’m not aware of it,” she added, before ending the phone call.
DeMarinis says Traverse Laval/Île-Bizard Inc. did not contact him either. He feels the company should have at least offered an apology.
“The thing they tell you when these things happen is: ‘Don’t talk to anyone, stay in your corner and let the insurance companies handle the procedures,’” Patenaude said.
Months after the incident, DeMarinis said his life has been upended by the experience.
“It’s dramatic. You fight for your life and it stays with you for a long time afterward,” he said.
He remains unable to return to work and is undergoing treatment for panic attacks, intrusive memories and insomnia.
DeMarinis said his insurance reimbursed him for the value of his car, while the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec, the province’s auto insurance board, compensated him for lost wages.
The TSB continues to investigate the incident. In an email, Transport Canada said “all identified non-compliances have been corrected by the owner.” Another inspection is scheduled later this summer.
According to the ferry’s Facebook page, service resumed for the season on May 12.