Criminal Offence to Leave Opening in Ice

[tylerduce]

Duty to safeguard opening in ice (The Criminal Code of Canada)

Section 263 (1)
Everyone who makes or causes to be made an opening in ice that is open to or frequented by the public is under a legal duty to guard it in a manner that is adequate to prevent persons from falling in by accident and is adequate to warn them that the opening exists.

Every one who fails to perform a duty imposed by
subsection (1) ... is guilty of

(a) manslaughter, if the death of any person results
therefrom;
(b) an offence under section 269, if bodily harm to any
person results therefrom; or
(c) an offence punishable on summary conviction

Section 269
Every one who unlawfully causes bodily harm to
any person is guilty of

(a) an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment
for a term not exceeding ten years; or
(b) an offence punishable on summary conviction.

[Bugle M In]

Thanks for the post.
Glad I haven’t ice fished since kid.
Got better stuff to do then watch water freeze.

[adriaticum]

I'll remember that, next time I pee on the ice.

[wideopenthrottle]

we used to just leave a little branch marking it

[tinhorse]

Tough to fall into a 10" auger hole...but I guess someone could trip and injure themself. Is there also a law about holes in sand at a beach? Lots of guilty kids out there if there is

[VLD43]

Tough to fall into a 10" auger hole...but I guess someone could trip and injure themself. Is there also a law about holes in sand at a beach? Lots of guilty kids out there if there is

The problem is there is no law against stupidity. This law is there to protect that group.

[rocksteady]

That's why I use a 6"

[dino]

Tough to fall into a 10" auger hole...but I guess someone could trip and injure themself. Is there also a law about holes in sand at a beach? Lots of guilty kids out there if there is

That's what she said!

[Bugle M In]

Tough to fall into a 10" auger hole...but I guess someone could trip and injure themself. Is there also a law about holes in sand at a beach? Lots of guilty kids out there if there is
It could be that the surrounding ice is weak.
A 10” hole could end up as a 5’ hole.

?????? just thinking out loud?

[Retiredguy]

I could be wrong of course, but I believe this originally came into being due to people cutting blocks of ice to store in their ice houses for the warmer months. It isn't that long ago when it was still common. In more recent times it was still being done in remote communities with a lack of consistent or reliable electrical power. You also still see people who are netting fish in the winter cut big holes with chainsaws to run the nets under the ice. One could easily fall through those holes, never to be seen again.

It isn't just about augering holes for fishing.

[high horse Hal]

next we'll be registering our iceholes
black iceholes will become prohibited
if it saves one life

[rocksteady]

next we'll be registering our iceholes
black iceholes will become prohibited
if it saves one life


Plus limit of 5 holes per auger, dont want one of them full auto assault auger..

[Grizzloonly]

Is there also a law about holes in sand at a beach?

Most of those pose no risk, they have someone's head in them.

[Weatherby Fan]

Dam ice fisherman.........they ruin everything for us hunters :wink:

[elker]

It is a good law!

My son sent me a photo the other day. He enjoyed driving on the ice highway in the northern Ontario. I looked at the photo and could not help to think that if an evil person (there are many of them, unfortunately) drilled open a large chunk of ice from the frozen waterway, someone will sink in with his/her vehicle.

Give credit where credit is due.

[RyoTHC]

It is a good law!

My son sent me a photo the other day. He enjoyed driving on the ice highway in the northern Ontario. I looked at the photo and could not help to think that if an evil person (there are many of them, unfortunately) drilled open a large chunk of ice from the frozen waterway, someone will sink in with his/her vehicle.

Give credit where credit is due.

you want a law to prevent everything?

this is the same logic the liberals use “if it saves even just one life”

it someone is doing that, there is already a law for it.. attempted murder.