Ottawa beach where GTA boy drowned has no warning sign or lifeguard

The drowning of a 10-year-old boy at a west Ottawabeach on Saturday is raising questions about a lack of signage and lifeguards to watch over a sandbarwith a sudden drop and a swift moving current known as "the point."

• 'Sad and tragic' asboy'sbody recovered fromConstance Bay

The boy was visiting from the Toronto area when he was swept under the water in Constance Bay, according to police. His body was recovered seven hours later.

Eli El-Chantiry, the councillor who represents the rural riding where the beach is located, said there used to be a sign warning people not to swim in the area and the boy's death is a tragic reminder that the sign should be replaced.

"That sign is not there anymore. So we have to go back and put a sign," he said.

"It breaks your heart to know it could be avoided and should have been avoided."

But he added that the call by some for lifeguards at the Constance Bay beach which is not one of five public City of Ottawa beaches with lifeguards is not necessarily the solution.

"It's not a swimming beach. People go there, they know they're on their own. There's no lifeguard there," he said.

"It's the loss of a life. And you wonder if there's anything we can do and we should do," he said, adding that having a lifeguard at theConstance Bay beach could raise calls for lifeguards "everywhere that people gather," including Pinhey's Point and Fitzroy Provincial Park.

El-Chantiry acknowledged that who owns the beach has been a point of contentionfor decades but that "today is not about the ownership of the beach."

'Maybe it could've saved a life'

The warning sign near "the point" was worn away by harsh winter weather, though residents have varying accounts of how long it has been missing.

Rick Charlebois, who has owned The Point restaurant named for the nearby sharp angle of the beach for nearly 30 years, said his first thought when he heard sirens on Saturday afternoon was of the missing warning sign.

"Maybe it could've saved a life if there was a sign there," Charlebois said, adding he hasn't seen it for about seven years.

El-Chantiry said it's unknown how long the sign has been gone because it was never reported missing to the city. Constance Bay has been the site of four drowning deaths in the past 20 years, according to El-Chantiry.

Charlebois said that most of the beach is "fairly safe but at the end of the point, it's not and it's unpredictable."

He explained that, "it's like a wall of sand. Because of the current, it holds it there. You can be walking out and you just drop."

They should tell the people it's a dangerous place it's deep and keep an eye on your children.- MauricePrud'homme

Maurice Prud'homme, who swam at the point as a child, suggested a lifeguard "would be the solution" for the beach.

"You can see the mark [where the sand drops]. It's brown and then it's black but kids they don't know the difference," he said.

"They should tell the people it's a dangerous place it's deep and keep an eye on your children and put at least Saturday and Sunday, this is like Florida at least one lifeguard."