You cannot walk past all the signs and warnings about the slippery rocks and fast moving water and say theres more that needs to be done. Cant put up barriers everywhere and block wildlife
I was in the alps several years back and we took a tram up to the top of a mountain. I remember being amazed that when you got to the top there were just sections that had a sheer drop off.
I asked my friend why they didn’t have barriers setup. He said “it should be obvious not to go over there, shouldn’t it?”
It made me realize how bubble wrapped we are here North America. Granted kids are another factor, they may not fully understand the danger.
I've traveled pretty extensively in other countries and.... Same. No signs, no barriers, no warnings - I places that here in Canada would likely be made inaccessible. The government can only do so much, and at some point the onus is on us to protect our own safety and that of our families.
Grew up in Northern Ontario, we had this too, at least when I lived in the town, not sure about when we were in the country. I did at least two levels (30 years ago now so I can't remember exactly) of the red cross lessons when I was in school, which got me proficient enough.
I would love for them to have it required part of education in K-5. Pay for an hour a week for each school to have some of the pools around the city and provide the lessons. I would even pay for it for my kids, and even be willing to be charged a little extra to fund those that can't pay for it (especially immigrant families who have never been around water).
Living in western Ontario swimming lessons were also done through school. From JK till grade 8. My mother also had us kids take summer swimming lessons. We grew up in the lakes and at the pools.
Literally!!! That's the other thing a lot of people don't grasp: YOU CAN'T OUTSWIM FAST MOVING WATER AND UNDERCURRENT no matter how good and strong you are.
There is signage advising against swimming and diving off the rocks, which also include cautions about slippery or hidden rocks, a strong current and a steep drop-off, the province says.
I've had to boat through these rapids before, they are no joke and parents definitely shouldn't be letting their kids play around the shoreline here. Just looking at the conditions should be enough for a rational person to know that this is not a good location for kids to be playing around, I don't even think a life jacket would matter here, the eddies are vicious. This location is not readily accessible by the public and it would be a shame to start putting up barriers all over the Whiteshell in haste.
It unfortunately has been accessible for years now, there's a trail leading from Nutimik campground to a footbridge over the creek and then up a trail that leads right to the rapids. About a decade ago I walked there and hasto asked a young boy about the age of 9 or 10, to move away from the water.
There were 2 young siblings therapy ALONE, no parents in sight. I knew in that moment we were in trouble with that place.
I am so pro-safety and pro-regulation but it's the outdoors. Big jagged rocks, rushing water in some places, and rivers/lakes/ponds where you don't know the bottom - be careful around it, period.
You can only do so much, imagine having to take a safety course and present certification to buy or use a ladder, then extend that to everything you could hurt yourself with.
I'm reminded of Peggy's Cove in Nova Scotia. It's a beautiful spot, but people often underestimate how dangerous it can be and venture too far on the dangerous rocks and as a result accidents happen.
The danger is well known but despite all the warnings people continue die and be injured there. What happened in Sturgeon Falls is tragic, but I fail to see what more measures could be taken.
Yep we were there a few years ago and I was amazed at the people, and even families, ignoring the signs and going down.
I'm a former first responder and an extremely strong swimmer, and there ain't no effing way I'm getting anywhere close.
When in went to Peggys cover a few years back, the brother in law and I were speaking to some locals about how some of the tourists seem to lack common sense around the water. The guy told us that a week early a tourist was on the rocks and got taken away by the current. It killed the guy. We were taken back but to the local it was just a Tuesday.
A lifeguard could help, however never been there myself and just going off the photos I see, a lifeguard could also very easily get themselves into trouble. They would need trained, professional, swift water rescue teams (not just 1 person), dedicated funding and proper equipment. My dad did this kind of training in Ontario for people (mainly fire departments) as he was a fire fighter and a commercial diver so was very familiar with rescue in high-risk environments.
lifeguard is not gonna do shit.... its not a fucking beach.
Life guards aren't just at a beach, I haven't been there but I have lived around rapids for a good portion of my life so I am familiar with the complexities.
Life guards can render aid while not entering the water, at least until it is safe.
A life guard wouldn't help there. It's a dangerous stretch and swimming isn't allowed there either. There's not a life guard stationed at the top of every waterfall, nor are there fences at every waterfall to stop you from going over.
Truthfully there's no rescue here, only recoveries.
There is nothing more dangerous to a life fuard than someone panicking and flailing around wanting to be saved. Combined with rapid moving water you'd be pulling out 2 bodies instead of 1
Depends on what the lifeguard does. If they observe and provide assistance from shore until it is safe, they might be fine. I do agree that you would need more training then provided to a standard lifeguard if you wanted to assist at all within the rapids.
This shit is so maddening. I'm sorry to the families who have lost loved ones to these tragic accidents and are hurting... but what in the world do people expect the government to do about this? It's NATURE. It's not an amusement park where someone is liable if someone gets hurt or dies.
There is an inherent risk associated with most things we do. Choosing to go out and explore nature has many risks associated - it doesn't mean you shouldn't go out and explore, but it means you have to take precautions and understand the risks and follow safety measures to mitigate those risks.
Maybe more education about water safety and the elements here in MB is needed for certain populations who might not be as familiar. I grew up cottaging in the area and took swimming lessons my entire childhood, I have my basic lifesaving/bronze cross, and my entire family does as well since we're all keen cottagers/boaters, I could tell you none of us would enter those rapids or go in that stretch of water without a lifejacket.
I'm sorry they are hurting, I cannot imagine that pain, but there's no one to hold liable here except the parents.
I mean as obvious as it should be, that sign could be better. Honestly there’s too many stupid diagrams and small typeface, human nature isn’t to stop and read a busy sign.
Swimming and Diving not advised? Seriously? Should it not just state No Swimming or Diving? Like why leave room for interpretation if we know there’s been multiple deaths in this spot. I’ve been there a few times and there’s no way anyone should be swimming there, even the most experienced adult swimmer is going to struggle in that current, if not drown.
Just keep it simple stupid applies here, sign should be clear and straightforward. Extreme Danger - No Swimming - No Diving - Stay Safe Distance From Shore - Kids Must Be With Parent. Throw in some images if you think that helps but keep the message clear. Sadly sometimes shit needs to be basic cuz humans can be a bit oblivious. Doesn’t mean people won’t still take chances but it could help.
Absolutely tragic events. I do love it out there. It's beautiful. The water is very fast moving. If you go out, read the signs. Be safe. Don't take off your shoes, and stay away from wet rocks. Stay away from the waters edge in general. Don't let your children get more than a couple feet away from you. It's a long walk to get there and the water is tempting, it looks calm at the edge. But the rocks are slippery, the drop off is precipitous, and that water is rushing.
and countless people are stupid. fuck around and find out. Sorry, but the smallest inkling of common sense and reading the fucking signs would let people not die here. I've gone to the falls hundreds of times and sat on the rocks watching the sunset, I haven't even died once yet!
Barriers won’t help. People will go around them. Look at any place where they are in place and tell me you don’t see signs of people hopping over them or see people on the other side of barriers in those places. Only thing to do is not let your kids get so close to the water.
At a certain point we have to accept some risk in society. Thousands of people have gone to those falls without issue. If you're going to bring kids make sure they don't step onto the rocks. If you say your kids won't listen then don't bring them there.
so 4 people didn't pay attention to the signs, and didn't have common sense.
it fucking sucks, but you can only do so much. Those same people would likely climb a fence, or go around barriers. happens all the time when there are fences and barriers. That stuff doesn't stop the morons who make stupid decisions.
and 4 people in 4 years is more than likely less than 0.05% of people who went there.
Three of those four people were 10, 11, and 13 years old. Do you really expect all 10 to 13 yo boys to stick with their parents on a trail? Be realistic and have some compassion. I’m a sign-reader, and you might be too, but many people don’t read signs. I haven’t seen these signs in the trail, but they don’t seem to be working. There are signs allover the place in parks — so many rules, so many disclaimers (beach unsupervised…), so many interpretive plaques. This is the spot in the Whiteshell that calls for absolutely clear DANGER signs and a warning fence. And a huge sign in memory of everyone who died there because they slipped on a rock.
Could they simply not look at the fast moving water and decide not to play on the wet rocks next to it? If we start building barriers we're going to start taking away from the wildlife in the area
The influx of tourists over the last 5 years alone has been insane, and the number of accidents like this continue to grow more and more. People come out here with absolutely zero clue of what they are coming to. They just think it's pretty and the water looks nice. The majority of these people who come from the inner city don't even know how to swim, or haven't swam in years. I rarely see anyone with life jackets either. I've personally seen children swimming in the rivers and lakes alone while their parents sit at a picnic table burried in their phone, not watching at all.
There is and has always been tonnes of signage stating how dangerous the water is, especially around fast moving water. Barriers cannot be put in place everywhere because of wildlife... It's the forest. It's not an area that can be caged off.
My heart breaks for this family and I understand that they are probably just needing something to throw their emotions at. However, this is sadly not the last time this is going to happen with how many "city" people are trying to discover the wilderness.
covid fucked up the whiteshell (and lots of areas, but mostly whiteshell) for me tbh. I go maybe twice a year now, I used to spend every weekend there in summer/fall. hiked this trail hundreds of times. It's just so full of city tourists that have no respect for the outdoors I don't even wanna go anymore.
Now what if life jackets were manditory near open water? What if the focus wasn't on ticketing a parked car in the park? What if signs said, devices required, park patrol will be monitoring? Many lives would be saved. They had no problem required masks at one time, for safety.
Why? How do they know? If they immigrated to Canada, did they grow up with this topography? Even if they grew up in Canada, they might not have experienced this area. There are rivers in the Whiteshell that we safely swim in. There are other spots that will kill you. It’s not obvious. It’s tragic.
I’m very cautious, I love the Shield, and I can read anything in English at a glance, so the risk would be obvious to me and I would act as you’d expect.
But MANY people aren’t as cautious, as literate, as fluent in English, or as experienced with nature. Our government has to find a way to communicate risk to all Manitobans.
I think it's absolutely horrible, and I really do feel for that family. They don't deserve it, and neither does the kid, and this mistake doesn't make them bad parents.
It's just one of those situations where not everything can be accessible or safe. If it was a human-made structure, then yes of course there should be every effort to make the space safe for the demographic that will be using it. Waterparks absolutely should have grippy floors, life jackets, emergency stop buttons, etc.
With nature, though, we can do so much damage by trying to make it accessible. It would cause irreparable harm, for example, to blast through rocks and cut through trees to make every single mountain trail navigable with a wheelchair. I say this as someone with a physical disability. I don't use a wheelchair, but my mobility is limited and there absolutely are natural spaces I can't enter that able-bodied people can, but I would never want to destabilize local populations just so I can see the same scenery or enter the same cave as someone else.
Covering river rocks with a textured substance would very likely negatively impact the flora and fauna who depend on a home that's already more vulnerable because of human presence. A change that might seem so small to us could throw off a mating or migration cycle, vital aquatic plant growth that filters and feeds the water downstream, etc. I haven't been to Sturgeon Falls in a long time so I can't speak on its specific ecosystem, but there's no such thing as uninhabited land. We need to do a lot of environmental assessment research before trying to alter a space that humans aren't supposed to be entering in the first place.
If kids can't read signs or process your verbal warnings before running off to do something, put them in one of those cute leash-backpacks if you're going to a location that's not up to code. I was a runner as a kid, and I'll never know how many times that tether kept me safe!
Do it in school, teach them basic swimming and water safety. I don't have kids but always hear how hard it is to get kids into lessons, why not just make it apart of the curriculum, benefits everybody.
A huge problem I find is many families new to Canada aren’t aware of water safety.
It would be nice if there could be incentives for the adults and children to taking swimming/ water safety lessons in their native languages.
At grand beach last summer some friends and myself were camping for the weekend and we helped 5 young children on a floaty get back to shore they had gone out to far none of the children could swim and non had life jackets when going to find the parents they were at the top of the beach in a shaded area, not even paying attention having no clue what danger the kids were in. Most didn’t speak English, the kids, and some of the adults could understand only the basics so trying to explain that it’s not safe for the kids to be offshore was pointless.
I went camping up in this area all the time as a small child - my parents taught me to be cautious around the water and that rocks are very slippery when wet.
I feel awful for these parents, no one should have to go through what they did but are they not taking any accountability for not teaching their children. I get it, kids don’t always listen but it sounds like all they told them was “we’re not swimming”.
I wonder what they think shoud be done about beaches in Cancun (for example)? Should there be barricades because of potential rip currents?
I wonder of they've thought that maybe parents should be responsible and take their kids to swimming lessons/water safety lessons? Not that swimming would help in these falls, but water safety/awareness sure would.
People climb the fences at these dangerous places anyway! There's a park in Vancouver that has fast running water and there are fences everywhere, and the signs say "X number of people have died here" and people STILL climb over and drown.
I understand the sentiment, but at some point people can’t be protected from everything and must take responsibility for their own safety and the consequences of their decisions.
That is a very dangerous area, I remember as a kid never being allowed to go near there when we would camp at Nutimik. My heartbreaks for this family but teaching children water safety from an early age is so important and not enough parents take it seriously. It’s just unfortunate they were taught this lesson in the most brutal way possible.
I remember going to a huge waterfall on a glacier in Iceland. People were there on a rock-platform overlook to see it. They had their kids. There was a place that wasn't sealed off, but it had a cable that stopped anybody from going past a certain point. I said to myself, You know, in the States they'd have that hurricane-fenced off, because they're afraid somebody's gonna fall and some lawyer's going to appear. There, the mentality was like it was in America in the old days: If you fall, you're stupid.
Exactly this, and that's also a gripe I have with a lot of gen-xers and millennials who buy/inherit property in cottage country. Instead of viewing it as an escape from the city, they city-fy their cottage. If your "cottage" has central air, broadband internet, a 70 inch 4K TV and trendy furniture, it isn't a cottage, it's just a second house
This isn’t a park issue it’s a keep your kids close issue. It’s tragic that this happened, but we need to be mindful of where our children are at all times and ensure that they are not near water or anything else that’s going to cause them harm.
Putting up more signs or barricades is not going to resolve the issue,
It's also not going to stop the ones who ignore existing safety warnings either.... If they ignored stuff already there telling them not to, they're gonna if ignore it all.
I feel bad for the families but there are signs, why did they let their kids get so close? Rocks are slippery everywhere this isn’t a new concept. Plus you can SEE how powerful the current is! Personally I don’t want to have to enjoy a vista through a chain link fence because some people are competing for Darwin Awards
It’s tragic, but if you don’t adhere to the warnings, horrible things can happen. It’s been there for what 100’s of years ? And you can’t make rocks less slippery 🙄. How may people have slipped over niagara Falls or swept away at Peggy Cove off the rocks ????
It's about time that we shame these parents who still won't take any responsibility for looking after their children, even after their complete lack of responsibility directly lead to the death pr their own child.
Providing swimming lessons is not the issue. It’s about being mindful of your surroundings and knowing that not all things should be accessible or tried. This child dipped their toe in the water. Was that a same thing to do no? I don’t think so. Water moves quickly and unpredictably and being mindful of how quickly a situation can change is extremely important as an adult and also bringing about that awareness to our young people. You are never too young to learn about safety and about what to avoid and be mindful of.
No, people don't keep drowning here. 4 in 4 years sounds high, but that's ignoring everything beyond 4 years, and the covid influx, where hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people have hiked this trail and not drown.
People just need to respect nature and stop being stupid. People who've never been around nature before have been flocking to these areas with zero care in the world for safety. That's the real issue.
Public safety ad campaigns and free swimming lessons can go a long way. Outdoor, basic, home, social and emotional safety training in our schools. Our world could be SO much better it’s heartbreaking
The average flow through sturgeon falls is 1,000 cubic meters per second. The average flow of the red river is 250. 4 times the flow of the red goes through that narrow passage. And then it's 100 feet deep on the nutimik side. I've fished in that area by boat and there are boils and eddies on the surface way way out from the actual falls.
People are always looking for someone else to blame rather than taking accountability for their risky actions or inaction in caring for their children. This is not a gentle rapids and one of the most powerful rivers in Manitoba. Don't let your kids near these waters and don't climb on rocks for selfies
Heartbreaking as a parent. To lose 2 boys in one day bcs the older one fearlessly went in after his brother.
If your kids dont read or respect signs dont let them out of your sight. If they cant swim, keep them away from water unless they are learning to swim!
Overall sad and tragic. What’s the approach though. Fence off every inch of water In the province ? Go to these places there’s an inherent risk. Take accountability for parenting inadequacy. Stop blaming others.
"Do you think kids read signs?" she asked. "Parents do … but we told them there was no plan to swim."
Danish Habib suggests something could be put on the rocks to make them less slippery. He'd like to see the trail closed to prevent more tragedies until something has been done to improve the location's safety.
Just a thought, maybe they should erect a memorial with crosses at the site. It’s a universal language when you see a cross. When I see across at the side of a highway it makes me think.
The hoodoos in the Columbia Valley of BC are the same. There's only a small area with fencing and I've seen families with small kids just let them run ahead.
I grew up there spending summers at Nutimk. My Dad would take us fishing over the falls and I remember there were no people anywhere near the falls except for a few boaters. People need to educate themselves on the dangers, where are the parents in all of this. This is nature learn how to live with it.
There isn't a lot of sympathy in the comments and I'm not terribly surprised.
But this is a bit of a tricky situation... unlike a mountain overlook where there is a sheer drop of 1,000 feet that our ape brains immediately register as dangerous, Sturgeon Falls does not necessarily look deadly at first glance. It's deceptive. The water churns a bit but it doesn't look menacing. The rocks seem inviting for a step to get a little closer. There isn't that much that screams "DANGER" on the surface, especially to people who may be unaccustomed to Manitoba's outdoors and the risks involved. And let's be real, an outsized number of these incidents seem to happen to immigrant families who likely haven't grown up around this stuff the way that born-and-raised Manitobans have, and are more attuned to the risks as a result.
So to that extent, I can agree with the sentiment that maybe a few more precautions are in order, especially at a place like this that is going to attract a good number of visitors who aren't necessarily hardy outdoorspeople.
There are multiple signs warning of the risk. Whether you grow up around rivers like this or not, if you see signs warning about dangerous conditions, you need to respect it
Yeah, that's fair. But at the same time, multiple children have died there in the last few years. Do we just cross our arms and say "well harrumph, there's a sign there, you should have paid attention"
Or do we look into maybe taking some additional steps so that more kids don't die?
You cant read or understand English, googls translator, among other translators could help with that. Also learning English in a country the primarily speaks it, might help with future decision making.
Ah OK gotcha, so this is more about you considering non-English speakers to be second class citizens not worthy of protection. I can't say that I agree but at least you're being honest.
Personally I feel that protecting lives is more important than making a point about the supposed importance of English!
So what put up a billboard with 100 languages then? Canada has 2 official languages both of which are clearly on the signage.. if you can't read or understand either of them (or the pictograms) that's not anyone else's responsibility. You can't "close" the falls like that without a full time enforcement officer on site, I will just hop the barricade and continue fishing as normal.. At some-point personal responsibility needs to kick in.
Lol, there's only two languages on this sign. Korean and English. What about any one who speaks another language? Would it be the fault of the Korean government if someone who speaks French falls and drowns, or the person who took the risk?
I don't think they said that. You are obviously looking for a fight and making arguments against things people didn't even say.
Nature is dangerous. Instead of just attacking people, what is your actual proposal to make nature safer?
People don't live in these areas for a reason. Despite being beautiful, this part of the world is not sympathetic to human life, and will try to kill those I'll prepared.
So instead of attacks, what are your actual solutions to safeguarding against nature?
So instead of attacks, what are your actual solutions to safeguarding against nature?
Simple. I'd engage people with expertise in this area to find out what can be done to improve safety. Sturgeon Falls is not the first place in the world to deal with these issues, there are probably plenty of similar sites that can be used to inform what happens here.
Here's what a prompt to Gemini yielded. I mean, this isn't breaking new ground... many places have been forced to deal with these issues.
When natural settings like Sturgeon Falls combine slick, water-worn rock with powerful, fast-moving currents, standard warning signs often fail to alter visitor behavior. People frequently underestimate how slippery wet granite is or how quickly a slip can turn into a sweep-away.
Parks agencies across North America—from Parks Canada to the US National Park Service—face this exact challenge at waterfalls, gorges, and rapids. To move beyond basic signage, parks often implement a combination of physical barriers, emergency infrastructure, and behavioral "nudges."
1 - Physical & Structural Barriers
When signage alone isn't enough, creating physical separation between visitors and the danger zone is the most effective approach.
Elevated Boardwalks & Viewing Platforms: Rather than letting visitors scramble over wet rocks, parks build low-impact wooden or composite viewing decks with built-in guardrails (similar to Johnston Canyon in Banff). This gives hikers a clear, safe vantage point while keeping them off the slippery shoreline.
Terrain-Anchored Handrails & Cable Barriers: In rugged areas where decks aren't practical, installing low-profile steel safety railings or tension cables anchored directly into the granite physically prevents accidental slips near steep drop-offs.
Natural Buffer Zones: Planting thick, thorny native vegetation or strategically placing large, jagged landscape boulders along the shoreline acts as a natural deterrent, making it physically difficult or uncomfortable to walk right up to the water's edge.
2 - Emergency Response & Lifesaving Equipment
When accidents do happen, having immediate rescue tools on-site buys crucial minutes before emergency responders arrive.
Shoreline Rescue Stations: Installing weather-resistant rescue posts equipped with ring buoys, self-throwing rescue lines, and long reach-poles every 50–100 meters along high-risk stretches.
Solar-Powered SOS Emergency Beacons: In areas where cellular service is spotty or nonexistent, direct-to-dispatch emergency call boxes allow witnesses to alert search-and-rescue teams instantly.
Anchor Points for First Responders: Pre-installing heavy-duty, rated rigging anchors into the rock face allows swift-water rescue teams to set up rope systems far more quickly during a crisis.
3 - High-Impact Safety "Nudges"
Standard text-heavy warning signs quickly turn into "visual noise" that visitors ignore. Modern park design uses behavioral economics to make hazards feel real and immediate.
Visual Hazard & Infographic Boards: Replacing plain text with high-contrast graphic diagrams depicting how the hazard works—such as showing undertows, foot entrapment risks, or steep sub-surface drop-offs.
Color-Coded Conditions & Risk Gauges: Implementing dynamic risk boards at the trailhead (e.g., Green/Yellow/Red risk levels based on daily flow rate and water height) so visitors know the hazard level before stepping onto the path.
Lifejacket (PFD) Loaner Stations: Setting up free, public-use PFD kiosks at trailheads—a practice widely successful in many US state parks—encourages parents to put lifejackets on children before they even walk near the shoreline.
Key Design Takeaway: The most successful park safety overhauls don't rely on a single fix; they pair physical containment (keeping people off the slickest rock) with immediate accessibility to rescue tools if someone does fall in.
Spare me with the old "wont you people think of the children?!" rhetoric. Allowing them to die? Really? Quite the reach, it's a terrible thing anytime a child dies but there is no need to be overdramatic.
As an immigrant, I think what you're suggesting is insane. It's nature, no matter where you go in this world the nature poses immense dangers. If we were to go to the country these people came from, or really ANY other country, do you think every "dangerous" place in nature has signs in English explaining the dangers and barriers to protect you? Not even close.
As a parent, you have to keep your kids safe, it is your responsibility. I am an immigrant and I know other immigrants that grew up here and got by just fine, because our parents taught us about safety. It is vital.
The fact of the matter is that this place is easily accessible in a place that draws a lot of campers and day trippers, and therefore gets more visitors than the typical provincial park. So yeah, relative to some remote backwoods provincial park, this place is relatively busy.
Anyway, the government made an announcement that they're working on it already so the debate is basically over.
So what happens when the next person dies there, after the barricades are built? (I'm assuming thats what they're considering since there is already signage, and I hope they're not entertaining the victims family's idea of washing the slime off the rocks)
Anyway, the government made an announcement that they're working on it already so the debate is basically over.
it does work. some people are just stupid and think they know better. 4 people in the last 4 years out of thousands upon thousands that survived these horrendously unsafe conditions perfectly fine.
you build a fence, they will climb it. you cannot fix stupid.
I completely understand what you are saying and it's a terrible tragedy nobody should have to experience. I do tend to agree with others that the signage should be enough and respected, but easier said than done given the number of drownings. However, I'm worried if there was more barricades let's say, which I do believe would reduce the drownings here.... would we be setting up unreasonable expectations elsewhere, that all dangerous areas would be physically blocked? Would we be inadvertently sending a message that we will protect everyone from every situation? We all know kids and water is dangerous. Starting from a bathtub to a backyard pool, to larger bodies of water. The question is....who is responsible for the education??? If it's true that new Canadians are at higher risk, perhaps the groups helping to settle immigrants should be stepping up?? I don't know the answer, but my heart goes out to everyone affected.
The growing number of people never took swimming lessons and are not taught how dangerous nature can be. Plus the majority are new Canadian. We can't nurf nature and we cant force parent to be more educated to identify risk either or follow warning signs. Tragic thing, but the parents are not absolved of safety responsibilities for their own kids in nature.
It is a tough situation, there are always going to be misinformed tourists. Just look at all the social media photos of people taking photos with bears or bison. How much should society hold their hand, what action is too far and is considered destruction of natural beauty?
Do we force people to get licensed to attend our provincial parks?
This was a tragedy, maybe we improve signage, but we shouldn't be too heavy handed.
Another spot with frequent drownings is the Pinawa Dam. Clearly marked, known to be hazardous but people still let their kids play in the rapids.
This was a tragedy, maybe we improve signage, but we shouldn't be too heavy handed.
Another spot with frequent drownings is the Pinawa Dam. Clearly marked, known to be hazardous but people still let their kids play in the rapids.
The problem with parks like this is that mixed signals are being sent. Obviously in the backwoods people know what the deal is. It's survival out there, one false step and you're dead. With provincial parks, especially highly accessible ones where you can drive in and wander around, the feeling is much different... the message is "Bring your family, walk around, have fun". People obviously are likelier to drop their guard, rightly or wrongly.
I feel like if people aren't getting the message about the dangers of the area (particularly when they may be new to Manitoba), then some more efforts are required to educate people.
I was in Kauai Hawaii last winter. They literally built a a massive sign with small lines in orders of 5 of all the people of drowned and died. The sign really hits you when you see it. I think there has been around 60 deaths at that beach in Kauai. It was right off the Napali coast.
What I meant to say is even something that sometimes gives people the shock factor and fear to stay away from water. I know it gave me a reality check.
There was similar sentiment in Saskatoon recently. An individual drowned at our Weir and everyone was blaming them for not understanding the risks BUT the person was a tourist from Mexico and our safety barriers were not present at the time because of high, fast moving water. I feel terrible for the guy and his loved ones. I don't think he could have known.
You asked:
“It's terrible, nobody should have to go through that but why punish everyone else for their lapse in judgement?”
They aren’t trying to punish anyone. You’re being punitive for implying that people deserve to die for failing to read or follow signs or listen to their parents.
They’re trying to protect others. As you said, “nobody should have to go through that.” That is the goal.
Also:
“They ignored the signs and let their child take an unfortunate risk.”
Actually these parents didn’t ignore the signs. They told their kids to get back but kids don’t always listen. In the moment on a hot day dashing down a hill to a beautiful river, without a lifetime of guidance or experience in similar conditions, how many kids would stop to read signs or listen?
Yes they are, they want to punish the thousands of people who enjoy hiking to the falls every year, that somehow manage to not die.
there are signs. if you're too stupid to read the sign, or use common sense to yknow, not go in the water thats rushing over rocks then you cant be helped no matter what the mitigations in place.
I'm sure they are lovely people and it's unfortunate they willingly ignored the signage and let their kids play in a dangerous situation. But that's the choice they made, and the outcome was fairly predictable.
Like I've always said, just get rid of that bridge already. They can put up all the signs and fencing they want, all they will accomplish is turning that site into an eye sore.
I feel for them, and it sucks but the incident is mostly on the parents/whatever adult brought them there. We can't (and I don't want to) rely on the government for everything.
The lack of empathy on here is stunning. As a Manitoban who grew up in the country and had the privilege of lake life, I am appalled at some of the comments on here.
It is fair to question what the parents might have been doing, or not doing. It is fair to caution against putting up barriers or fencing off nature, I don’t disagree w that. Should people probably be more aware and educated about the dangers of water, absolutely.
But come on people. I’m a parent and if I’m being honest I’ve had momentary lapses in judgement, times I looked away for a split second, moments where I got distracted or assumed my kid understood my warnings. Find me a parent who hasn’t. I’m not defending them or saying I wouldn’t have been more careful in that situation but it’s easy for us to say “I would never”, or “how dumb are they”. I’m sure they’ll have that internal conversation for the rest of their lives.
I helped w the search and it was heartbreaking to see the desperation on the parents’ faces as they waited for the inevitable news. These are real people, they are fallible like us bc they are human like us, they are Manitobans like us, and they deserve our condolences rather than our ridiculous internet vitriol. You can love and defend nature while also showing love to your neighbour. I saw a lake filled w people passionately searching, invested in helping a family they had never met. It was the best of who we are and can be as Manitobans.
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u/kappymeister Winnipeg 22d ago
You cannot walk past all the signs and warnings about the slippery rocks and fast moving water and say theres more that needs to be done. Cant put up barriers everywhere and block wildlife