In British Columbia on a Canadian Registered Charter Vessel…

Alas, Canadian lawyers cannot accept phone calls from this site.

If in full uniform, I do not see a problem. The weapon is a part of the uniform and the skipper should have been alive to that. School liaison officers are often armed in schools.

Your question was whether it was "legal". In my opinion it is legal but perhaps not good judgement from a police policy perspective. On the other hand, if a police officer is invited on board a vessel, a reasonable person may want to inquire or even look to see if the officer is armed.

It sounds like a complete melt down in communication of which ultimately the skipper is responsible on your facts for knowing who is on board.

If you are concerned, I would raise the matter with the Chief of Police of the detachment where the officer was dispatched. Again it sounds as though this may have been a bad policy move on the part of the detachment but it is not illegal.

Now, if the officer was off duty and on board as a private citizen, then my answer changes and it is contrary to law.

Either way, your concerns should be made as a formal written complaint to the Chief. If you get nowhere, a complaint should be lodged with the Police Complaint Commissioner. Here is their site...

https://www.opcc.bc.ca/

You can even start there but they may ask if you have registered a complaint with the detachment first.

I can hear that you are troubled. But, the matter is fact based. If a group wants a police officer on a trip then it is reasonable to expect that person may be armed. If off duty, that is a problem for the officer.

Being a Skipper on such a trip is a mammoth task. Ultimately however it is the Master who must take reasonable steps to ensure there is nothing on board that could effect the safety of passengers. Especially with youth, this could include alcohol, drugs, pepper spray and knives (weapons as well), with less emphasis at least in Canada, that a student could have a gun.

In short, if a uniformed police officer was requested, they generally carry firearms, pepper spray, batons, perhaps tasers which are all weapons and such should be assumed. If the officer was off duty, my answer changes.

Perhaps a police bad call but they may feel the trip was safer.

The Master must take reasonable steps to ensure he/she knows that no one on board has anything that could effect the safety of the vessel.

It sounds complex.

I hope I have assisted. If you have more facts that could change my response, I am interested to hear from you.

Sincerely,

Tom