By Brian Jackson
Robert Albota casually points out the old gallows at the Ottawa Jail Hostel as he passes by the site of Canada’s last public hanging on his way to a room full of lifejackets.
There, he hands out the lifesaving devices to those waiting to go on the Ottawa Hostel Outdoor Club’s last canoe outing of the season. Albota gives instructions on how to adjust the straps, and makes sure everyone has a properly fitted jacket.
After securing metal Grumman canoes on top of cars and loading their trunks with paddles and backpacks, Albota has one more chore to do before heading out to Lac Philippe in Gatineau Park.
The waivers he hands out ask participants to agree not to hold the club liable should anything go wrong on the trip. Outdoor enthusiasts will tell you the odds favour a car accident on the way there over an injury while canoeing.
But these waivers are just as important to the club’s organizers as the lifejackets that protect them and their members from drowning.
For a volunteer-run club with minimal resources, keeping outdoor enthusiasts safe is about more than health concerns. Any lawsuit against the club would likely mean its end.
That is why volunteers who organize outdoor clubs focus much of their attention towards safety and other means to ensure the worst case scenario will never happen.
“Off the top of my head, half the money coming in goes to insurance,” says Thomas Geiger, president of the club. Insurance “is one of those things I hope we never have to use.”
The hostel club is not the only Ottawa outdoor volunteer group to face rising insurance costs. Other clubs agree insurance has been on the rise the last few years, ever since Sept. 11. The rise comes despite the fact that no canoeing liability claims have been made in Ontario in 10 years.
Doug Corkery, president of the volunteer-run Ottawa River Runners, says insurance is the club’s most significant expense.
“Little league baseball is more dangerous than whitewater paddling,” says Corkery.
“Our insurance has gone up 100 per cent in the last few years … that is a pretty big increase for no claims.”
Kevin Gibb, Y Canoe Camping Club treasurer, says their group is fortunate to be covered by the YMCA for liability insurance, and has been able to keep fees constant.
But the hostel club is not attached to a larger organization, and they’ve had to raise fees.
Costs to be a member of the club and participate in activities have gone up in the past year by a few dollars, says Geiger. “We want to discourage daily activity fees and get people to take up memberships.”
The River Runners have avoided raising membership fees, Corkery said. By charging participants more per event, extra costs are covered.
Anyone is welcome to meet with the hostel club on Sunday mornings on Nicholas Street for hiking, canoeing and cycling in the summer, or for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing in the winter. For a few dollars plus gas money, the club provides equipment, a lift and like-minded adventurers.
Most members pay just $30 a year, a reduced cost if they receive the electronic newsletter rather than the more expensive paper version. Geiger says almost all members use the electornic newsletter, with only a few paying $40 for it to be delievered to their mailbox.
“We started out going electronic about four years ago,” says Geiger. “We’ve cut our costs in labour efforts significantly.”
The club has always limited their outdoor excursions to low-risk activities to avoid extra insurance costs. Sports like kayaking and downhill skiing are left off the menu.
In addition to insurance, clubs can incorporate to protect a club director from personal liability in the case of a lawsuit. Any legal action must be made against a corporate entity and not its directors. Volunteer organizations deter lawsuits by not having any assets to be won.
Despite the legal measures they’ve taken to prevent being sued, Geiger still doubts the club would survive a lawsuit.
“We would probably restructure ourselves to just a group of friends doing things together, because that’s what we consider ourselves to be,” says Geiger. “Our formal legal structure, that would probably just disappear.”
Albota is double-checking the group’s safety equipment on Lac Philippe.
His eye is on a small red bucket used as a bailer, currently a toy in the hands of five-year-old Stephanya Henry. She dashes across the beach looking for a caterpillar to put in it.
“I’m going to find treasures,” she exclaims.
This is the last canoe trip of the season organized by the club, and Albota considers the year a success.
“We’ve just been lucky to not have any major injuries,” he says.
On the paddle back to their cars, group members are wearing their lifejackets.