On Tuesday evening, a small plane crashed next to a soccer field attached to Monarch Park Collegiate Institute in Toronto’s east end.
The pilot of the four-seat Piper Cherokee had been flying from Orillia, Ont., to Toronto’s Billy Bishop airport and shortly before the crash she alerted air traffic control that the plane “might have engine failure.”
The high school is next to Monarch Park, a busy urban recreation area, and the soccer field was full of people playing ultimate frisbee. Somehow, the pilot managed to thread the needle, also avoiding pickleball players and the off-leash dog park, and landed the plane in the parking lot. Miraculously, no one was hurt. The pilot and her two passengers walked away from the crash and none of the people on the ground were harmed.
It’s a one-in-a-million story.
What are the odds?
After all, the pilot was not flying the plane with a suspended pilot’s license. The pilot didn’t have half a dozen charges and convictions for flying while impaired. The pilot had not been previously charged with various “stunt flying” infractions. The pilot was not awaiting trial for crashing a four-seat Piper Cherokee into Monarch Park Collegiate six months earlier. Nor had the pilot been previously convicted for crashing four-seat Piper Cherokee airplanes into high school parking lots.
Oh, wait a minute, that is not surprising. It’s not surprising because we, as a society – as a global community – understand that flying an airplane is a dangerous activity that requires a capable, skilled and responsible pilot especially for when things go wrong. In this case, the plane reportedly lost power and the pilot performed a skilled forced landing.
Imagine, if you will, that the story went like this:
“On Tuesday evening, a Subaru Outback crashed next to a soccer field attached to Monarch Park Collegiate Institute in Toronto’s east end.”
If this happened, many would expect the next part of the article to include mention of the driver having a suspended license, charges of operation of a vehicle while impaired or stunt driving. Often, when we read about a car crash, such infractions are often part of the driver’s biography as they are repeat offenders or operating the vehicle in a dangerous manner.
That’s because we do not take driving seriously. Oh, we take our right to drive seriously. We just don’t think that those who drive drunk, stunt drive, speed, drive recklessly or any other form of bad behaviour, should be stopped from driving. The first-time penalty in Ontario for impaired driving is “immediate roadside 90-day suspension, a seven-day vehicle impoundment and a $550 penalty.”
Let’s repeat, the penalty for almost killing people – because that’s what driving drunk amounts to – is “immediate roadside 90-day suspension, a seven-day vehicle impoundment and a $550 penalty.” The Ontario government calls this “severe consequences.”
Really, what does a driver get for a second impaired driving offense? Immediate roadside 90-day suspension, seven-day vehicle impoundment, mandatory enrollment in an education and treatment program and a trip to the Ikea ball room?
In Canada, we take the 19 strikes and you’re out approach to driving.
Some politicians are taking note. Angered by the recent death of Andrew Cristillo, Ontario Premier Doug Ford has vowed to introduce tougher legislation to punish reckless drivers.
According to CTV News, ‘Andrew’s Law’ “would introduce mandatory driving bans in Ontario for motorists charged with dangerous driving until their trial is complete, as well as lifetime driving bans for people convicted of extreme dangerous driving, including stunt driving at excessive rates of speed or causing collisions while reckless or impaired.”
Meanwhile the dangerous, reckless, license-suspended driving continues.
In Durham, Ont., a man was arrested for driving 150 km/h at night on an 80 km/h street. Along with speeding, he was charged with driving with a suspended licence, no insurance and no validated permit.
On July 21, 2025, an Ottawa driver was arrested for driving with a suspended licence. His licence had been suspended that morning.
What are the odds that these kinds of people will finally obey their driving suspensions?
Probably about as likely as a four-seat Piper Cherokee crashing next to a soccer field attached to Monarch Park Collegiate Institute in Toronto’s east end with no major injuries.