![\"car](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779285429_650_default.jpg\")
Mike Demarinis’ car fell off the ferry that connects \u00cele Bizard to Laval-sur-le-Lac on July 17, 2025. (John Le Piane\/Facebook)<\/p>\nTransport Canada has identified seven instances of non-compliances on the ferry linking Laval and \u00cele-Bizard, after a car fell into the current and the driver barely escaped the sinking vehicle.<\/p>\n
On July 17, 2025, Michael DeMarinis was still inside his car as it was swept away by the waters of Rivi\u00e8re des Prairies. <\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are talking about a very strong current. You need to be 100 per cent equipped to save people\u2019s lives,\u201dDeMarinis said.<\/p>\n
When he found himself in the water, \u201cnobody knew what to do. It was ridiculous,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n
Employees and passengers tried to rescue him; one employee even jumped into the water without a flotation device to help \u2014 only to be swept away by the current as well.<\/p>\n
Four days after the incident, Transport Canada conducted an inspection of the ferry.<\/p>\n
According to the inspection report, obtained by Radio-Canada through the Access to Information Act, seven safety failures were identified that day.<\/p>\n
Inspectors noted, among other things, that \u201ccrew members were not adequately trained for emergency situations.\u201d<\/p>\n
For starters, the lifeboat was locked \u201cwith a cable and a padlock.\u201d 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.<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ferry owner says staff were trained<\/p>\n
Radio-Canada spoke briefly by phone with Ren\u00e9e Patenaude of Traverse Laval\/\u00cele-Bizard Inc., the company that owns the ferry.<\/p>\n
Despite the report\u2019s findings, she maintained the employees on site \u201chad just been trained and retrained,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Patenaude added the company, in operation for more than two decades, has been compliant with all regulations.<\/p>\n
Patenaude acknowledged, however, that on that particular day, \u201ceverything we did was terrible.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was not the right thing for my captain to just watch the situation and do nothing,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
As for the employee who jumped into the water, \u201che was faced with a situation where, despite the best training, he just did something stupid.\u201d<\/p>\n
Patenaude recognized that, in light of the incident, her employees would have reacted better with \u201cadditional training.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t prepare for situations we never imagined could happen,\u201d she said. \u201cDid you think we saw that coming?\u201d<\/p>\n
Similar incident 4 years earlier<\/p>\n
After the incident, DeMarinis learned a similar situation had occurred four years earlier.<\/p>\n
V\u00e9ronique Schami was driving onto the ferry in July 2021 when the vessel set off toward Laval before she had fully boarded.<\/p>\n
\u201cI desperately slammed on the brake and the clutch,\u201d she said in an interview.<\/p>\n
Mike Demarinis’ car fell off the ferry that connects \u00cele Bizard to Laval-sur-le-Lac on July 17, 2025. (John Le Piane\/Facebook)<\/p>\n
While the operator and another employee tried to bring the ferry back to the dock, panic set in.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought I was going to end up in the water,\u201d Schami recalled. \u201cI told myself I wasn\u2019t going to survive and they would have to identify my body somewhere in Rivi\u00e8re des Prairies.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
After disembarking, she stepped out of her vehicle to collect herself.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy the time I turned around, the ferry had already left,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
In its investigation report into the July 2025 incident, Transport Canada also noted that \u201cno device to properly confirm the position of the mooring cylinders was installed.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the days that followed her experience, Schami said she tried to warn authorities about what happened.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Traverse Laval\/\u00cele-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.<\/p>\n
However, in Schami\u2019s case, Transport Canada has no record of the incident, according to a spokesperson.<\/p>\n
In an email exchange, TSB media relations staff declined to comment on Schami\u2019s complaint.<\/p>\n
They did say the incident, as reported by Traverse Laval\/\u00cele-Bizard Inc., \u201cwas deemed not reportable.\u201d As a result, no investigation was conducted.<\/p>\n
Getting in touch with Traverse Laval\/\u00cele-Bizard Inc. took time, Schami said. <\/p>\n
No apologies to victims<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat doesn\u2019t ring a bell,\u201d Patenaude responded.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not denying anything. I\u2019m saying I\u2019m not aware of it,\u201d she added, before ending the phone call.<\/p>\n
DeMarinis says Traverse Laval\/\u00cele-Bizard Inc. did not contact him either. He feels the company should have at least offered an apology.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe thing they tell you when these things happen is: \u2018Don\u2019t talk to anyone, stay in your corner and let the insurance companies handle the procedures,\u2019\u201d Patenaude said.<\/p>\n
Months after the incident, DeMarinis said his life has been upended by the experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s dramatic. You fight for your life and it stays with you for a long time afterward,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He remains unable to return to work and is undergoing treatment for panic attacks, intrusive memories and insomnia.<\/p>\n
DeMarinis said his insurance reimbursed him for the value of his car, while the Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 de l\u2019assurance automobile du Qu\u00e9bec, the province\u2019s auto insurance board, compensated him for lost wages.<\/p>\n
The TSB continues to investigate the incident. In an email, Transport Canada said \u201call identified non-compliances have been corrected by the owner.\u201d Another inspection is scheduled later this summer.<\/p>\n
According to the ferry\u2019s Facebook page, service resumed for the season on May 12.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Transport Canada has identified seven instances of non-compliances on the ferry linking Laval and \u00cele-Bizard, after a car…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":682003,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194292],"tags":[49,48,2338],"class_list":["post-682002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-montreal","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-montreal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/682002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=682002"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/682002\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/682003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=682002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=682002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=682002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}