The flowers have not yet withered outside Parc Ouellette in the LaSalle borough of Montreal. People continue to pause, read the cards, and move on in silence. During a community event on May 31, a bouncy castle was lifted by a gust of wind, resulting in the death of a three-year-old girl and injuries to eleven others. It’s the kind of mishap that, until you see the pictures, seems nearly unthinkable: an inflatable structure, whether or not it is anchored, suddenly taking to the air.
Since then, more of a regulatory story has surfaced than a freak-accident one. It turns out that inflatable amusement structures are completely unregulated in Quebec. Ferris wheels, carousels, and other fixed rides are subject to the province’s Construction Code and Safety Code, which are managed by the Sociétéie du Réiment. Bouncy castles don’t. With no licensing, no required training, and no inspection system, they operate in a sort of legal blind spot. The person who sets up the equipment is largely responsible for what happens after the rental company gives it to them.
When compared to Ontario and Nova Scotia, that is peculiar. Since 2001, Ontario’s Technical Standards and Safety Authority has mandated permits for inflatable devices. Even in cases where the rental was arranged privately, the province does not consider events held in parks, churches, or schools to be private. Nova Scotia goes one step further, mandating operators’ training and yearly licenses for owners. Neither does Quebec. Now that a child’s death is right in the middle of that gap, it’s difficult to ignore how narrow it appears.
The province’s rental companies appear almost relieved to be questioned about it at last. There are no laws that he is aware of, and there probably ought to be, according to a worker at an event rental company in the Montreal area. His business provides anchoring stakes and instructions, and it establishes its own wind-speed cutoffs, which are approximately 38 km/h. However, there is no real way to make a customer follow any of it once the castle is on the ground. On the day of the LaSalle accident, Environment Canada recorded gusts close to 50 km/h, which is significantly faster than what most operators would deem safe to operate.
The minister of labor in Quebec, who is in charge of the éie, hasn’t made any explicit promises about new laws. His office has cited current Health Canada guidelines, such as “anchor the structure, watch the weather,” and unhelpfully pointed out that regulations just vary from province to province. That is accurate. But it’s not really an answer. Montreal police and a coroner are currently looking into whether the right safety measures were taken that day; their findings could influence the course of events.
Here, there’s a more general pattern to keep in mind. Because they are uncommon and visually striking, amusement ride accidents—whether fixed or inflatable—tend to make headlines. Industry researchers have long noted that serious injuries are rare in comparison to how frequently these rides operate. However, rarity isn’t consoling to a bereaved family, and it’s a flimsy defense against bridging a clear divide. The question now is whether this summer’s fairs will be any different as a result of Quebec having to explain why a rule that other provinces decided upon decades ago never made it onto its own books.
