Nunavik sees four drownings in three days

Snowmobile racing across water— an activity also called “watercross”—is linked to the deaths of two young men this week in Nunavik. (PHOTO HARVESTED FROM SNOWRIDER.COM)

Nunavimmiut are reeling after the drowning deaths of four young men this week in three separate incidents across the region.

One of the three incidents directly involved the dangerous activity of racing snowmobiles across water, called “watercross” in the South. In a second incident, watercross may have played a role in the fatal capsizing of an overloaded canoe.

Jackie Gadbois, 23, drowned June 8 in Kuujjuaq’s Koksoak River, after a group of four friends in their 20s went out in an 18-foot canoe.

Sources told Nunatsiaq News that there was only one life jacket on board the canoe, which is made to carry only three passengers safely.

A couple of other youth were reportedly racing up the river in snowmobiles, making waves around the canoe.

It’s not clear if those waves, a rock, or other movements in the canoe made the boat tip, sources say.

The canoe may also have stopped to pick up another person who had fallen from a passing snowmobile into the water, although police did not confirm this.

Police and eyewitnesses did not agree on whether there were four or five people in the canoe shortly before it capsized.

According to local firefighters, the first call for help came in shortly before 6 p.m., saying a canoe had tipped over between Barrel Beach and the community.

The canoe was about 100 to 150 feet from shore, too far a distance in cold water for the first responders who arrived on the beach to attempt a rescue.

They spotted a snowmobile racing past the capsized canoe— and wondered why it did not stop.

But it apparently did not stop to help because snowmobiles lose their ability to stay on top of the water if they don’t keep moving at more than 80 kilometres an hour.

When firefighters arrived by boat to the scene within minutes, they found one of the youths, holding on to the boat, and another, wearing a life jacket, floating nearby.

Gadbois, who did know how to swim, had attempted to swim to shore, but only made it part way.

Gadbois’s girlfriend tried to help him, but was unable to get him to safety in the frigid water. She made it to a rock in the river.

Many boats then spent the evening searching for Gadbois. An underwater camera finally located his body about five hours later.

Paul Parsons, the mayor of Kuujjuaq, said the incident points to the need to be more aware of safety on the water. As for watercross, “obviously we don’t want young people to be participating in such a dangerous activity,” he said.

“But I’m proud in the end at a moment’s notice, we had over a dozen boats out on the water, so, if anything needs to be said, it’s how fast and how willing our community members jumped to help in this case, which unfortunately turned into a recovery case,” Parsons said.

Charlie Epoo, 23, drowned June 7 in Inukjuak when the snowmobile he was racing over the water sunk.

“The Kativik Regional Police Force in Inukjuak responded to a call on Monday, June 7, around 11 p.m. concerning two men on a snowmobile who had fallen through the ice. One of the two (a 19-year old) was able to pull himself out of the water.

The body of the second man (a 23-year old) was recovered on the morning of June 8,” Robert Mackey, senior communications officer for the Kativik Regional Government, said June 10.

Others who spoke to the Nunatsiaq News said the two incidents spoke to a lack of “boat safety and smarts.”

The Kativik Regional Government and its hunter support program has in the past supplied life jackets and survival suits to be sold in communities for lower-than-retail costs. But the KRG is now planning another its water safety campaign so that Nunavimmiut use the equipment when on the water.

Nothing can make watercross, a warm-weather activity, which has claimed other lives in the North, safer.

Harry Aviak, 45, drowned in Heart Lake near Kugluktuk on July 1, 2007, when his snowmobile sank as he was attempting to cross the lake.

Watercross fans say snowmobiles used for watercross should maintain a water speed of 80 km to 90 km an hour.

At this speed, when a snowmobile is out on the water, its tracks work like paddles, while the skis help the machine slide or skip across the water.

To avoid drowning or perishing from hypothermia, drivers who are foolish enough to try watercross should wear life jackets with survival suits.

Two hunters, 19 and 23, from Puvirnituq also are feared drowned. They failed to return June 9 after checking their nets.

The search for the two men is ongoing, police said early June 10.