Ontario Review Board
Re: Quang H. Dang
ORB File No: 7586
Hearing held on: Monday, September 22, 2025
Place of hearing: Southwest Centre for Forensic Mental Health Care 401 Sunset Drive, St. Thomas
Pursuant to: Section 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code
Before:
Alternate Chairperson: Mr. G. Beasley
Members: Dr. R. D. Chandrasena
Dr. T. Verny
Ms. K. Tomaszewski
Ms. M. McKinnon
Parties Appearing:
Accused: Mr. Quang H. Dang
Counsel: Ms. C. Francis (on ZOOM)
The person in charge of hospital: Counsel: Ms. J. Zamprogna
Attorney General of Ontario: Counsel: Mr. D. Rows
REASONS FOR DISPOSITION
(Dated November 14, 2025)
Introduction
On August 14, 2019, Quan Dang was found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder (“NCR”) on charges of assaulting a peace officer and mischief under $5,000, contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada (the "Criminal Code").
Mr. Dang is currently subject to a disposition of the Ontario Review Board (the “Board”) dated October 7, 2024, detaining him at the Southwest Centre for Forensic Mental Health Care, St. Joseph's Healthcare London (“Southwest” or the “hospital”) with privileges up to and including the ability to live in the community in accommodation approved by the person in charge.
On September 22, 2025, the Board convened a hearing pursuant to s. 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code to review Mr. Dang’s disposition. Mr. Dang was present in person for his hearing and was represented by counsel, Ms. Francis, who attended by videoconference. The hospital was represented by Ms. Zamprogna, and Mr. Rows represented the Attorney General.
At the outset of the hearing, Ms. Francis confirmed that a Vietnamese interpreter was not required. Mr. Dang also indicated that he did not need the assistance of the interpreter.
The issues to be determined are whether Mr. Dang poses a significant threat to the safety of the public, and if so, the necessary and appropriate disposition to manage that risk having regard to the criteria set out in s. 672.54 of the Criminal Code.
At the commencement of the hearing, counsel for the hospital submitted that Mr. Dang remains a significant threat to the safety of the public and there should be a continuation of his current detention disposition with an expansion of geographic boundaries for passes to increase Mr. Dang’s options for a DSO community living placement. Counsel for the Attorney General and counsel for Mr. Dang agreed with the hospital’s submission. All parties maintained their respective positions in closing submissions.
For the reasons set out below, the Board finds that Mr. Dang continues to represent a significant threat to the safety of the public and that the necessary and appropriate disposition is a continuation of the current detention with the changes proposed by the hospital, as set out in the Hospital Report.
Evidence at the Hearing
- The Board received documentary evidence in the form of a Hospital Report dated July 4, 2025. The Board also heard oral from Dr. Ardani, Mr. Dang’s treating psychiatrist.
Index Offence
The circumstances of the index offences are excerpted from last year's Reasons for Disposition as follows:
"On April 12, 2019, Mr. Dang set fire to a garbage can at the offices of the Canadian Mental Health Association in London Ontario. When police were called to investigate the fire, the accused was still on scene and while being arrested, he punched one of the officers in the face. He was charged with mischief over and assault police officer.”
The Hospital Report outlines Mr. Dang’s history and background, which need not be repeated here in detail. In brief, Mr. Dang is 41 years old. Mr. Dang was born in Dubai to parents of Vietnamese heritage. He came to Canada when he was 3 years old. Mr. Dang reports having no contact for many years with his mother (who lives in Vietnam), father, stepmother, six stepsiblings and three brothers. Notably in April 2022, Mr. Dang’s half-sister contacted the Hospital with interest in supporting Mr. Dang. There has been no family contact during the current reporting period.
Mr. Dang is single with no dependents. There is limited information about Mr. Dang’s education and employment history. Prior to entering the forensic mental health system, Mr. Dang had no fixed address and was residing at various shelters. He has a history of crack cocaine and crystal methamphetamine use. Prior to the index offences, Mr. Dang had a criminal record that commenced in 2001, and which includes numerous convictions for offences of violence, property, and breaches of court orders.
Mr. Dang’s diagnoses are schizoaffective disorder (bipolar type), substance use disorder, and intellectual development disorder. Mr. Dang is incapable of making treatment decisions regarding his mental health and the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee is his substitute decision maker (SDM).
Mr. Dang has no identification documents apart from an OHIP card with no photo. The hospital has attempted to assist with this, but Mr. Dang’s level of disorganization and strained family relationships have been barriers to obtaining documentation.
Testimony of Dr. Ardani
Dr. Ardani is Mr. Dang’s attending psychiatrist. He adopted the Hospital Report.
The doctor testified that Mr. Dang underwent a psychological assessment this year. As a result of that assessment, the diagnosis of intellectual development disorder has been added to his diagnoses.
Over the past year, there have been two episodes when Mr. Dang targeted a co-patient in response to delusions. During one incident, Mr. Dang yelled at the co-patient and pushed a dining room table into him. During another incident, Mr. Dang threw a cup of water at this same co-patient.
Dr. Ardani explained that this co-patient is the only co-patient who speaks Vietnamese. Mr. Dang’s auditory hallucinations are in Vietnamese, so when Mr. Dang is being bothered by the hallucinations, he believes it is this co-patient who is involved, and he acts out against this co-patient.
As a result of these incidents, Mr. Dang’s antipsychotic medications were changed to clozapine and risperidone. The clozapine has been optimized, but there is still room to increase the dose of risperidone. This must be done cautiously because Mr. Dang is very sensitive to side effects of the medication. Mr. Dang is treated only with oral medications. Because of his mental disorder, Mr. Dang is too disorganized to take these medications without the structure and supervision provide by the Hospital.
Dr. Prakash noticed that since the medication change, Mr. Dang can tolerate sessions with staff for up to 45 minutes, while in the past he could tolerate up to 25 minutes of interaction. In other respects, Mr. Dang’s mental status has not changed significantly since last year.
Mr. Dang continues to exhibit positive symptoms, symptoms of disorganization, and negative symptoms of his mental illness. He was highly impacted by florid psychotic symptoms, including hallucinations and delusions. Mr. Dang has also been noted to voice bizarre thought content. He exhibits disorganization including disorganized thinking, difficulty focusing, indecisiveness, and rumination. He remains preoccupied and fixated in his thoughts.
Although he has shown some level of self-awareness of his cognitive deficits and that he has difficulty comprehending and communicating with others, Mr. Dang attributes his lack of comprehension to having been sprayed with pepper spray in the past.
Dr. Ardani testified that Mr. Dang likely lacks the cognitive function for psychotherapeutic programming and substance use programs. Mr. Dang’s cognitive function also affects his ability to communicate his experiences and feelings, and to identify symptoms of his illness to the team.
Past trials with 12 sessions of ECT were unsuccessful, resulting in no improvement.
Mr. Dang has not used substances, but he has had no exposure to substances in that he has not used any indirectly supervised passes to the community because of his cognitive function and mental status.
Substance use remains a risk factor, and Mr. Dang is vulnerable to substance use if he has the opportunity to do so. He has not yet been able to participate in substance relapse prevention programs because he is unable to tolerate the length of these sessions and is unable to comprehend the materials.
Dr. Ardani expressed hope that in the future cognitive therapy could enable Mr. Dang to benefit from some form of relapse prevention programing.
Mr. Dang is not able to manage his medications without supervision and requires 24/7 supportive and supervised housing.
In Dr. Prakash’s opinion, Mr. Dang will require slow and gradual changes to his medications and will need to be assessed in the community for safety, reliability, and abstinence from substances, once he is able to enter the community on indirectly supervised passes.
As noted above, Mr. Dang recently qualified for DSO support, which will provide Mr. Dang with funding for support workers to assist with bringing him to outings and programs in the community and will place him on the waiting list for a DSO residence.
The purpose of the recommended changes to the current disposition is to support an application for DSO housing. It is unlikely that Mr. Dang will be ready to live in the community during the upcoming year, but the waitlist for DSO housing is lengthy, and it is important to place him on this waitlist as soon as possible.
Dr. Ardani confirmed that the reasons why Mr. Dang continues to pose a significant threat to the safety of the public, and why the necessary and appropriate disposition is a detention disposition, are the same as those expressed by the Board in last year’s Reasons.
No additional evidence was adduced by the parties.
Analysis and Conclusion
The Board accepts the evidence of the Hospital Report, as well as the expert opinion of Dr. Ardani, and finds that Mr. Dang continues to represent a significant threat to the safety of the public.
The Board notes that all parties were in agreement on this issue. Mr. Dang suffers from treatment refractory schizoaffective disorder. He remains impacted by symptoms despite changes to his medications. Historically, Mr. Dang’s response to these symptoms has resulted in violent behaviour. Mr. Dang struggles to cope with minor frustrations.
Throughout the year in review, Mr. Dang has expressed various delusional thoughts and has been observed to be responding to unseen stimuli. On two occasions he displayed aggression toward a co-patient in response to auditory hallucinations.
Mr. Dang’s insight into his mental illness and need for treatment is poor and he would likely discontinue medication absent the Board jurisdiction. In addition, Mr. Dang’s insight into the index offence remains poor and he continues to lack an appreciation of the risk he presents to the safety of the public. Complicating Mr. Dang’s situation are his cognitive deficits. He has been diagnosed with intellectual development disorder which impacts his capacity for developing insight and to date has inhibited his ability to participate in meaningful therapeutic interventions. Furthermore, Mr. Dang has limited personal supports and no known psychiatric professional supports in the community. While Mr. Dang has very recently been approved to receive DSO funding, DSO supports have yet to be put in place.
For these reasons, the Board finds that Mr. Dang continues to represent a significant threat to the safety of the public.
The Board further finds that a detention order remains the necessary and appropriate disposition. The Board’s reasons remain the same as those expressed by the Board in its Reasons last year.
The Hospital Report indicates that Mr. Dang has been treatment nonadherent in the past. Substance use remains a risk factor, and he has yet to be assessed in the community with any degree of independence. Given Mr. Dang’s risk factors, the Hospital requires the ability to approve his accommodation to ensure that he is provided with monitoring and support to manage his risk to the safety of the public when in the community.
For the same reasons and given Mr. Dang’s diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder (bipolar type) and the unpredictable nature of his decompensation, the Hospital requires the ability to readmit Mr. Dang quickly. This is particularly relevant when viewed in the context of Mr. Dang’s criminal record and the index offences which demonstrate his propensity for violence in the context of his decompensation. For these reasons, the Board finds that a conditional discharge is neither necessary nor appropriate in the circumstances.
The Board agrees that the expansion of the geographic area for passes as proposed by the Hospital is necessary and appropriate to enable Mr. Dang to be placed on the lengthy waitlist for DSO housing.
In making a disposition, the Board must take into consideration the criteria set out in s. 672.54 of the Criminal Code, the safety of the public, which is the paramount consideration, the mental condition of the accused, the reintegration of the accused into society and the other needs of the accused.
For the foregoing reasons, the Board finds that Mr. Dang continues to represent a significant threat to the safety of the public and that the necessary and appropriate disposition is a continuation of the current detention disposition with the changes recommended in the Hospital Report.
For the most part, Mr. Dang is described as a very kind and respectful person who has empathy towards others. The Board wishes Mr. Dang a successful year and expresses its hope that the DSO support that is now available to him will enhance his experiences in the community.
DATED this 14th day of November 2025, at the City of Toronto, in the Region of Toronto.
Ms. K. Tomaszewski
Legal Member
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Office of the Registrar
Ontario Review Board