Ontario Review Board
Re: Richard Fortin
ORB File No: 7830
Hearing held on: Monday, January 23, 2025
Place of Hearing: Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre
Pursuant to: Section 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code
Before: Alternate Chairperson: Mr. P. Hageraats Members: Dr. S. Lessard Dr. R. Cormier Mr. A. Bouvier
Parties Appearing: Accused: Richard Fortin Counsel: Ms. M. Lord Person in charge of hospital: Representative: Dr. M. Strike Attorney-General of Ontario: Counsel: Ms. M. Dufort
REASONS FOR DISPOSITION
(Dated March 25, 2025)
Introduction
On December 18, 2020, Richard Fortin appeared in Court on a charge of murder, contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada.
The Court was presented with psychiatric evidence establishing that Mr. Fortin was suffering from a severe mental disorder when he committed the offence. Based on that evidence, the Court ruled that Mr. Fortin was not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder (NCR).
Mr. Fortin is subject to a disposition of the Ontario Review Board (ORB or “the Board”) dated January 15, 2024. He was ordered detained at the Secure Forensic Unit of the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre (ROMHC or “the hospital”). Mr. Fortin was awarded privileges, including to live in 24-hour supervised accommodation approved by the person in charge of the hospital. The disposition also prohibited Mr. Fortin from cohabitation with his spouse, Ms. Denise Dubois. That said, he is permitted to attend at the residence of Ms. Dubois, but only when accompanied by hospital staff or by an approved person.
On January 23, 2025, the Board convened at the ROMHC to conduct an annual review. Mr. Fortin attended by video connection from the Montfort Hospital in Ottawa. He was accompanied by his sister, the substitute decision-maker, Ms. Lise Larue. Mr. Fortin was represented by counsel, Ms. Melanie Lord, with Ms. Lord appearing in person at the ROMHC.
The Board received direct testimony from the attending psychiatrist, along with documentary evidence, that being a cumulative hospital report, dated November 23, 2024.
The issues to be considered by the Board are whether Mr. Fortin presents a significant risk to the safety of the public, and, if so, to determine the necessary and appropriate disposition.
Positions of the Parties
- The Board was presented with a joint submission by all three parties, namely that Mr. Fortin continues to present a significant threat and that, to manage the level of threat, a detention order, on the same terms as before, is necessary and appropriate. For the reasons set out below, the Board adopted the joint submission.
Current Psychiatric Diagnoses
- Delusional Disorder
- Minor Neurocognitive Disorder, probable vascular type
- Obstructive Sleep Apnea
Index Offence
- The circumstances are described in the hospital report and in last year’s Reasons for Disposition dated March 22, 2024. In Summary:
In 2009, Mr. Fortin and his common-law partner, Ms. Dubois, moved into their rented basement apartment in Rockland, Ontario. In 2014, the victim, Mr. Jobin, and his wife, Ms. Jobin, moved into the upstairs unit, directly above the Fortin/Dubois couple. For the first year, the two couples got along reasonably well. Later on, the two men would argue verbally.
In January 2017, Ms. Jobin complained to the police. In April 2017, a municipal by-law officer responded. Mr. and Ms. Jobin advised that the downstairs’ tenants were walking about at night, making noise. The officers spoke to Mr. Fortin and Ms. Dubois who in turn complained that Mr. Jobin was walking inside the house with heavy green rubber boots and that he had poured a bucket of water around the house and had thrown snow onto the property. As no breach of municipal regulations was alleged, the officer referred both couples to the landlady.
A few days later, in April 2017, the landlady, Madame Mault, was already tired of hearing the two couples complain about each other. She gave them each a letter, inviting them to either get along or to move out. She listed the complaints, including the fact that Mr. Jobin was not willing to share his shed with Mr. Fortin, nor was he willing to build a second one. Mr. Jobin had use of the carport, although he had been told not to park too close to the basement window and not obstruct Mr. Fortin’s view. When Mr. Jobin maintained the lawn, Mr. Fortin complained it was because Mr. Jobin did not want him to use the yard. The men argued about Christmas lights. Mr. Jobin did not like it when Mr. Fortin would plug his truck to the outside of the house.
On November 6, 2018, police officers responded to a call at 8:36 a.m., regarding a 75-year-old male without vital signs. They were told shots had been fired.
On arrival, police officers saw someone in the apartment near the basement window. They drew their firearms and pointed them into the residence. They shouted an order to the people inside and used their vehicles as a shield. They could see broken glass in the alley under the car port. Eventually, a man and a woman came out, unarmed. They were told to stay where they were and not to move. The woman was hysterical and crying, asking the police not to shoot them. She did not stop screaming at the officers. The male was identified as Mr. Fortin. Mr. Fortin admitted to having discharged his 12-gauge from inside the house. He did not say how many shots were fired.
At 8:43, the officers arrested Mr. Fortin for discharging a firearm in public. At 8:45, once placed in the police vehicle, Mr. Fortin was immediately told to say nothing and not to incriminate himself.
At 8:47, Mr. Fortin’s spouse was still screaming. The officers had difficulty understanding her. They tried to explain she could not enter her home because it was now a crime scene. She said she was asleep when the incident happened, and that Mr. Fortin had repeatedly told her the upstairs neighbour was trying to poison them by using propane tanks inside the walls of the house. Mr. Fortin had said he wanted to put an end to it. She had no idea he would do such a thing. She said that her spouse was not having any mental health problems.
At 8:52, the officers learned that Mr. Jobin had been wounded in the arm by gunshot. By then, ambulance personnel had arrived. At 8:53, the officers learned Mr. Jobin was in critical condition and that he would be transported to the Ottawa Civic Hospital. At 8:59, Mr. Fortin was rearrested for attempted murder.
At 9:01, Mr. Fortin was brought to the Rockland Police Detachment. He told officers he had been having problems with his neighbour for the last ten years. He said Mr. Jobin kept propane tanks in the residence and was poisoning them downstairs. At 9:03, Mr. Fortin was again advised of his right to silence but he continued to say he had wanted to put an end to the situation.
Inside the apartment, police officers found a pump action rifle on the floor near the damaged basement window. They also found an empty cartridge on the kitchen table. An open gun case was found in another room.
The kitchen window had a large hole. It had burst from the inside to the outside. There was no glass in the residence. Broken glass was present in the alley under the carport, near the same basement kitchen window.
It was learned that Mr. Jobin had gone to Walmart and Tim Hortons earlier that morning. He returned home at about 8:25. His spouse, Ms. Jobin, was on the porch to hand him a plastic bin. She heard the explosion. She saw her husband come out of the truck. He leaned over, holding on to his arm. She then heard a second explosion. Mr. Jobin fell to the ground. When she went to see him, he was not moving. She called 911. She thought she heard Ms. Dubois shout that he had put poison in the walls. The two shots came one after the other, not five minutes apart.
At 9:03, although Cst. Bouchard told Mr. Fortin not to say anything, he continued to say he had wanted to put an end to the situation: “J’étais plus capable (I couldn’t put up with it anymore.) I lost control. It’s just that he deserved it for it to stop. Did I kill him? … It had to stop.”
At 9:04, Mr. Fortin stated he was not suffering from any mental health problem. According to Cst. Montpetit, Mr. Fortin said something in the order of: “The guy has been trying to poison us for the last week with gas. I shot my gun twice.”
Later, when the officers asked Mr. Fortin for his t-shirt, he told them: “Get it tested for gas, and you’ll see why I did it.”.
Police officers questioned Ms. Dubois at 12:38. She advised she had woken up with the shivers. When she came into the kitchen, Mr. Fortin told her it was over, and he had killed him. Mr. Fortin complained he had not been feeling well all week and that he had a stomach-ache. Ms. Dubois said she did not smell anything like any odour in the apartment. When she had got up at one point earlier in the morning, she saw her husband sleeping on a chair, snoring. When she saw him asleep that morning, he had a wet cloth over his mouth because he smelled an odor. She went back to bed. Three months earlier, he had gone to see his Doctor, and everything seemed fine.
When Cst. Laliberté observed the crime scene, several windows had been opened. A series of fans were still running in the apartment. Given the month of the year, the inside temperature was 15 degrees Celsius. According to the psychiatrists who were later consulted, this tends to confirm Mr. Fortin’s delusional belief about the risk he was confronting.
Mr. Jobin died of his injuries the same day he was shot. Mr. Fortin was re-arrested on a charge of first-degree murder.
When Mr. Fortin was interviewed some time later by the psychiatrist Dr. Strike, she recorded the following under the heading “Psychiatric Symptoms as Reported by Mr. Fortin”: “Mr. Fortin denied having had any present or previous false beliefs (delusions).
Background History
Mr. Fortin is 79. He grew up in a francophone Catholic family of nine brothers and sisters. He struggled with formal education and took up the plastering trade. He worked until retiring at age 60. Mr. Fortin received CPP and Ald age Security payments. He suffers from a heart condition and coronary artery disease, hypertension, sleep apnea, hypothyroidism, degenerative disc diseases, asthma, and reflux. He is divorced from his first partner and has seven children in total. Mr. Fortin maintains a romantic relationship with Ms. Dubois. He has no significant criminal record or history of substance abuse.
Mr. Fortin has long-standing major mental health issues. These include paranoid delusions that he and his loved ones have been and are being gassed by gangs or individuals with gang affiliates. The delusions have historically caused recurrent problems with neighbors. Over the years, when held in fear of his delusions, Mr. Fortin has repeatedly changed his places of residence. The same delusions figured dominantly in the index offence.
Mr. Fortin has never had any insight into his delusions. Since his release from the Ottawa -Carleton Detention Centre some time ago, he has felt that being placed, first, at the hospital and now, at his latest community facility, Marochel Residence, was keeping him safe from the gangs and from being gassed. Until most recently, he also felt that by staying away from Ms. Dubois’ house, she too would be safe from the gangs.
Over the years, and continuously, Ms. Dubois has reinforced Mr. Fortin’s persecutory delusions. Dr. Strike currently describes her as being reluctant to report details of Mr. Fortin’s thought processes. According to Dr. Strike, Ms. Dubois sees the same things as Mr. Fortin. Ms. Dubois is not at all comfortable with the idea of questioning Mr. Fortin’s beliefs.
The Previous Reporting Year, December 2022 to January 2024
Following the court’s NCR verdict on December 18, 2020, Mr. Fortin was kept on inpatient status at the ROMHC. This continued for several months until he was eventually placed at the Marochel Residence in Ottawa, a 24-hour supervised long term care home. Mr. Fortin has felt safe, both at the ROMHC, and, for a time, at Marochel. The previous reporting year did not see him express any violent ideations nor show any signs of irritability. Mr. Fortin has been able to engage in outings in the community, including with Ms. Dubois and family members, without incident.
As before, Mr. Fortin has no insight into his delusions or the role that his major mental illness played in his commission of the index offence. He continues to believe that a gang has been following him and that they will likely begin harassing him again were he to move into any other place of accommodation. Mr. Fortin is otherwise able to maintain stable cognition. He has not expressed any suicidal ideation. He has participated in psychoeducational group programming. Mr. Fortin has remained compliant with a modest regime of psychiatric medication, administered orally. That said, he does not believe the medication is at all necessary.
At last year’s annual review hearing held on January 10, 2024, there was concern that Mr. Fortin might renew his driver’s license and go on to drive his truck. Dr. Strike dealt with the issue: she forwarded a medical report to the Ministry of Transportation expressing the dangers associated with having Mr. Fortin take control of a motor vehicle, given his ongoing fatigue relating to sleep apnea, his neurocognitive difficulties, and the ongoing untreatable paranoid delusions. It was also noted that the substitute decision-maker, Ms. Larue, was keeping the vehicle keys away from Mr. Fortin.
Last year’s ORB panel noted that Mr. Fortin was displaying little likelihood of reoffending, largely since he believed he was protected from the gangs. This was based on his feeling comfortable and safe at both Marochel Manor and the hospital, and on the fact that he was no longer attending the home of Ms. Dubois.
With Mr. Fortin continuing to firmly believe his delusions, compounded by his belief that he does not have a major mental illness, the Board concluded it was likely, if he were not under controls, that the delusions would heighten. Mr. Fortin would incorporate other individuals or residents into his paranoia, leading him to reoffend violently, as seen with the index offence. Based on the continued significant threat posed to public safety, and the strength of Mr. Fortin’s unchanging delusion, a detention disposition remained necessary and appropriate.
In Reasons dated March 22, 2024, the Board noted as follows - para. 28:
Mr. Fortin has only recently been transitioned into a long-term care facility. To this point he has found that setting to be safe and secure in the context of his ongoing delusions. It remains to be seen whether that will continue to be the case as he exercises increasing levels of reintegration into the community. The primary objective (of public safety) is satisfied where that reintegration is undertaken in a cautious manner with ongoing monitoring for any increase or change in his paranoid delusions.
Annual Review hearing date: January 6, 2025
Mr. Fortin appeared in person at his first scheduled hearing for 2025, along with his present counsel. The hospital social worker, Mr. Richard Robins, was also present. When the hearing began, the attending forensic psychiatrist, Dr. Strike explained that recent events had taken a dramatic turn.
Dr. Strike described Mr. Fortin as not doing very well. Mr. Fortin was no longer feeling at all secure at the Marochel Residence. For the last three to four weeks, he was again experiencing feelings of being targeted by the gang. Dr. Strike explained that the concern was serious enough that the hospital needed to re-admit Mr. Fortin as an inpatient. Mr. Fortin’s delusions were now extending to the ROMHC, making it problematic for him to be admitted there. Instead, Dr. Strike proposed to have Mr. Fortin admitted to the Montfort Hospital. An adjournment was sought, and granted, for the hearing to proceed on January 23, with updated information to be provided.
Annual Review hearing: held on January 23, 2025
Following the adjournment granted on January 6, 2025, Mr. Fortin was admitted to the Montfort Hospital, where he presently remains. Dr. Strike testified that Mr. Fortin appears content to stay at the Montfort. He has been collaborating with Montfort hospital staff. A geriatric psychiatrist, Dr. Jacques is involved. Mr. Fortin has been cooperative in taking prescribed antipsychotic medication, including Olanzapine, which was only recently restarted following its cessation back in the Spring of 2024.
Mr. Fortin is currently not showing any signs of aggression or agitation. However, he refuses to return to the Marochel Residence where he had resided and had done quite well for a year and a half. Mr. Fortin is now reporting that Marochel staff are part of the criminal gang elements that want to harm him. Dr. Strike awaits further assessments now being undertaken by the Montfort concerning Mr. Fortin’s condition.
Dr. Strike testified that Mr. Fortin’s cognition appears to have significantly diminished since last year. His score on the MOCA scale is much lower than before and is now at 9 over 30. Previously, he had been assessed with a score of 23 on 30. When Dr. Strike last saw Mr. Fortin in August 2024, he was not oriented as to date, season, or the year. Dr. Jacques has reported that Mr. Fortin is not in a state of acute delirium, but his overall mental state has deteriorated.
Dr. Strike and Mr. Robins hope to meet soon with the substitute decision-maker with a view to deciding whether they should close off his assigned bed at Marochel Manor. Currently, Mr. Fortin has been placed on a waitlist for a bed at the Royal Ottawa Rehabilitation Centre. Mr. Fortin is cooperating in this regard. The only reason for Mr. Fortin’s current placement at the Montfort Hospital has to do with the need to control his place of residence. Clinically, he does not otherwise need to be in hospital.
It will take quite some time to find another residential facility that would be prepared to accept Mr. Fortin, given his condition and history. Both Dr. Strike and the patient’s family anticipate significant ongoing difficulties with future possible residence changes. Dr. Strike explained that a conditional discharge will not be appropriate or adequate to control Mr. Fortin’s continuing risk to public safety. The hospital needs to keep him in hospital for as long as necessary before finding a suitable new residential placement. For now, Mr. Fortin is collaborating with their efforts.
Dr. Strike responded to questions from counsel and from panel members. Regarding medication, Dr. Strike explained that Mr. Fortin’s motivation for complying with medication has only to do with the fact that he realizes it is an ORB requirement. Mr. Fortin lacks insight into the benefit of medication.
Regarding his sleep apnea condition, he is also lacking insight. He does not make use of the CPAP device provided. Sleep apnea is an added risk factor in his case. Despite repeated education provided, he shows no interest in accessing this mode of treatment.
Mr. Fortin maintains contact with his spouse, Ms. Dubois. However, he never goes to her residence. He continues to declare he does not want to, based on his fears of the gang.
As for Mr. Fortin’s incapacity regarding medical treatment, it is anticipated that the sister, Ms. Larue, will continue in her role as substitute decision-maker. Until recently, Mr. Fortin was believed to be capable of managing his finances. However, this is now very much in question, so that Dr. Strike proposes to reassess him on that level.
When asked what would happen without a renewed detention order, Dr. Strike explained that Mr. Fortin could quite easily decide that he no longer wishes to remain at the Montfort Hospital and then go off on his own. Mr. Fortin needs to stay somewhere where he is safe and where he can be kept safe while awaiting future placement. Tools available under the Mental Health Act are not at all sufficient nor appropriate to manage the risk which he presents to public safety.
Asked about Mr. Fortin’s medical condition, Dr. Strike was concerned that his recent decline may have had a strictly medical cause. However, all of Mr. Fortin’s more recent medical test results show no changes. Dr. Strike’s current impression is that the most recent heightened delusions and fears are psychiatric in nature.
Before concluding her evidence, Dr. Strike underlined the importance of ongoing engagement and support being provided to Mr. Fortin by family members, and particularly the substitute decision-maker, his sister, Ms. Larue.
The parties presented no further evidence.
Submissions of the Parties
Counsel for the patient and for the Attorney-General supported the hospital recommendation. In her comments to the Board on behalf of Mr. Fortin, Ms. Lord noted, it was unfortunate that Mr. Fortin’s problematic thinking patterns have returned. For sixteen months, things seemed to be going very well for him at Marochel Manor.
Counsel pointed out: Mr. Fortin absolutely refuses to return to Marochel Manor. Mr. Fortin feels encouraged by the fact that he is not being forced to be transferred back to the ROMHC. For now, he continues to voluntarily remain on inpatient status at the Montfort Hospital. Ms. Lord agreed with Dr. Strike that continued testing is indicated, including cognition assessments (MOCA) which hopefully will be done relatively quickly.
Ms. Lord concluded her submissions by thanking the substitute decision-maker, Ms. Larue for attending beside her brother on video at the Montfort Hospital. Joining with Dr. Strike, counsel acknowledged the importance of Mr. Fortin’s continued family support.
On behalf of the Attorney-General, Ms. Dufort offered her own set of similar recommendations.
Conclusions and Disposition
Based on the clear and uncontradicted evidence, the Board had no difficulty coming to the unanimous conclusion that Mr. Richard Fortin continues to present a significant threat to public safety. This is based on the most concerning index offence, coupled with the deeply seated and unchanging psychiatric condition which led to that offence. Mr. Fortin remains in the grip of the same delusions.
There is no indication that his condition will ever change. Unfortunately, as has been described in the past, it is untreatable. No disposition, short of a detention order, will keep members of the public safe.
The Board further finds that a detention order is necessary and appropriate based on the hospital’s clear and continuing need to strictly control Mr. Fortin’s place of residence. Mr. Fortin needs to remain in a setting that is supervised on a 24-hour basis.
The Board considers that under strict controls, Mr. Fortin may be permitted some limited form of access to the community. Any such access to the community will have to be carefully controlled and monitored by hospital approved staff or other hospital approved responsible persons. We see little, if any, likelihood that Mr. Fortin will be a candidate for ‘indirectly supervised’ access to the community in the coming twelve months.
The Board does not object to having Mr. Fortin remain in contact with his spouse, Ms. Dubois. However, as before, such contact must be carefully monitored and controlled.
For these reasons and considering the primary need to keep the public safe, while balancing the patient’s mental condition, his reintegration and other needs, a detention order will issue. terms and conditions, with appropriate privileges, are set out in the disposition.
We thank Dr. Strike, Mr. Robins, and both counsel for their assistance.
DATED this 25th of March 2025, at the City of Toronto, in the Toronto Region.
Mr. P. Hageraats Alternate Chairperson
Office of the Registrar Ontario Review Board