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A year after 10-year-old Lionel Hall was killed in a speedboat crash near Cates Park/Whey-ah-Wichen in North Vancouver, his family is calling for tougher consequences for reckless boaters and more enforcement on busy B.C. waterways.
Lionel died on June 7, 2025, after a speedboat collided with an inflatable tube carrying him and another child in the water near the park’s boat launch. The other child was seriously injured.
At the time, North Vancouver RCMP said speed and alcohol were being investigated as possible factors. A North Vancouver man was arrested after the collision but was later released. The man has not been named and hasn’t been charged.
RCMP told CBC News the file remains an active and ongoing investigation and are unable share further information.
Lionel’s parents, Shelley Klassen and Jason Hall, have been advocating for improved safety rules on B.C. waterways, including at Cates Park/Whey-ah-Wichen.
In an email to CBC News, Klassen shared detailed proposals that push for lasting changes to prevent similar tragedies, including stronger consequences for boaters around excessive speed, impaired boating and reckless vessel operation.
The parents have been working with several federal, provincial and local government officials, including local councillors, MPs and MLAs.
The Cates Park/Whey-ah-Wichen boat launch is pictured in North Vancouver, B.C, on Monday, June 9, 2025. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
The family’s main proposal is what they call Lionel’s Law, which proposes amendments to the Canada Shipping Act that would create a clear offence for reckless operation of a vessel.
These reckless operations, according to Lionel’s Law, include excessive speed near swimmers or shore, operating while being visibly impaired, and ignoring navigation rules, among others.
Under the family’s proposal, peace officers would be able to remove dangerous operators from the water and impose an immediate 30-day suspension of their Pleasure Craft Operator Card (PCOC).
In a broader water safety reform proposal prepared by Klassen, she says the PCOC can currently be obtained online with limited oversight, and that the same licensing requirements apply regardless of the size, horsepower or capability of a vessel.
Lionel Hall is seen with his mother Shelley Klassen in this photo posted to a fundraising website. (GoFundMe)
The family is calling for separate testing for operators of high-powered speedboats and larger vessels and in-person testing similar to motor vehicle licensing.
Klaseen says she also wants to see funding for the səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nation’s guardian program to act as “eyes and ears on the water,” helping monitor marine safety and co-ordinate with enforcement and emergency responders.
Cates Park/Whey-ah-Wichen is in the traditional unceded territory of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation.
In a statement, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority said it has established a new 250-metre perimeter around the Cates Park/Whey-ah-Wichen boat launch restricted to five knots.
The port authority said it regularly patrols its jurisdiction and has boating safety signage in place across port waters, including QR-code signs linking to local rules.
There are several other safety initiatives planned, too.
According to a District of North Vancouver staff report on boating safety measures planned for the 2026 season at Cates Park/Whey-ah-Wichen, the port authority has scheduled a number of safety events for the season, which are meant to include boating compliance checks, public engagement and education.
The RCMP and ICBC are also bringing a boating safety initiative that includes enforcement, compliance checks and safety messaging at the park this summer.
In a social media statement, Klassen said she’s confident her family’s efforts will bring about change.
“Our focus is to look at all the issues, gaps in the current system that allowed for things to go so terribly wrong that day,” she wrote. “Our family is committed to doing all we can to make sure [Lionel ’s] legacy is not in vain but leads to positive change.”
The family is expected to mark the one-year anniversary of Lionel’s death at Cates Park/Whey-ah-Wichen on Sunday.