Update:
Police now say the boy was from Huntsville and that David Sillers is a family friend.
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Original story:
A canoeing accident yesterday evening on the Muskoka River resulted in the death of a young boy.
OPP say at approximately 5:30 p.m. officers responded to a report of a canoe that had overturned in the Muskoka River near High Falls and both occupants, a man and a child, had been thrown into the river.
Police rushed to the scene and found the man who said that the child, an 8-year-old boy, was still missing in the freezing water.
Officers searched the area and found the child who, although was wearing a life jacket, had gone over the falls.
Officers leaped into the water to try and save him and started giving CPR.
The boy was rushed to hospital but has since died from his injuries. The man was also taken to hospital and treated for minor injuries relating to his exposure to the elements.
Police have charged 37-year-old David Sillars of Etobicoke with Impaired Operation of a Vessel Causing Death, and Care and Control over 80mgs.
Sillars will appear in the Ontario Court of Justice in Bracebridge on May 9th, 2017 to answer to his charges.
Police did not disclose the relationship of Sillars and the boy.
Muskoka Emergency Medical Services, Bracebridge Fire Department and Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry also responded at the scene.
