Three years ago we also funded a landmark study called "Will It Float?", which took the most rigorous look to date at all the issues surrounding the mandatory use of Personal Flotation Devices. That report was done for the Canadian Safe Boating Council by a very innovative research group in Canada called SMARTRISK.

It has really changed the nature of the PFD/lifejacket debate in Canada and, I understand, is becoming quite well known here too. I'm told that the report is starting to find its way in front of many legislators and industry leaders across the U.S.

So we've been hard at work for the past while.

But for all of that, I must say, I don't normally talk much in public about Ron's story. As I'm sure you'll appreciate, it is very personal, and it is still very painful.

I do want to talk about it here tonight however, because I sense a rare kinship in this group.

Some of you are here because you have experienced the kind of pain that I have. Many of you - most of you, I imagine - are here because you dedicate your lives to making sure that others don't have to feel this pain.

All of us are here because we want to help others enjoy the water as a blessing, not as a threat.

And so I do want to take you through this and tell you what I think could have saved my fiancé Ron Rees' life, and the life of his brother Rick, and of their friend Greg Cook.

On Friday, July 17, 1998 at the end of their work day, Ron, Rick and Greg headed over to a friend's cottage which was about two hours north of Toronto on Georgian Bay. I was in England at the time, mixing a live album. Ron and I had established a practice of calling each other at approximately the same hour of each day no matter what time zone we were in. On this particular night however, I tried to reach him but there was no answer and thinking that something must have come up, I headed off to bed only to be awakened at three in the morning with the call we never want to get.

Now, Georgian Bay is gorgeous. But it's heavy water.

The lake is very deep. The shoreline sits right under an escarpment that can create fast changes in weather. And it's open. You have to be a good sailor to enjoy Georgian Bay.

Late that afternoon Ron, Rick and Greg - all good swimmers - set out for a brief sail in a small dinghy something like an Albacore.

The weather was nice. The day had been very hot. No doubt they thought this was going to be a quick sail before joining their friends who regularly gathered on the weekend.

An hour or two went by - the sun finished setting, darkness had fallen and yet, the boat had not come back.

In the meantime, many of the Friday night regulars had gathered at the cottage to have a bite to eat and hang out for a while. Knowing that the fellas had gone out earlier, they were beginning to wonder what had happened to them. But no one bothered to follow up.