These friends want rescue equipment at lakes across B.C., but province says it won't install them | CBC News

After a deadly summer on the water in B.C., four Squamish friends are advocating for rescue equipment to be installed at provincial parks.

B.C. has recorded a spike in drownings, with 42 people dying so far this year.

There were 27 deaths in the same time frame last year, according to the B.C. and Yukon Lifesaving Society.

Lenea Grace, the executive director for the society, said the increase is alarming.

“We want to equip British Columbians to make safe choices when they're on the water,” Grace said.

In some of the deaths, Grace said, people were not wearing a life jacket.

“An average of over 40 per cent of drownings in B.C. involve non-use of a life jacket,” she said.

In late May, a couple died after falling from a paddleboard at Browning Lake near Squamish, at Murrin Provincial Park.

After the tragedy, four friends — Auni Dayton, Ella Henriques, Zoë Prescott and Zeia Dayton — came together and floated an idea of how they could help improve safety.

“I've always actually been passionate about policy, and I've always been interested in what someone can do as a citizen to speak to their government,” Henriques said.

Together, the group wrote a letter to the District of Squamish’s mayor and council back in July asking for improvements to be made to the local swimming lakes.

“We want to see life jacket-loaner systems, we want to see better signage, we want to see better swimming education,” Prescott said.