Ontario Review Board
Re: Shane Kellar
ORB File No: 7804
Hearing held on: Monday, January 19, 2026
Place of Hearing: Providence Care Hospital
Pursuant to: Sections 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code
Before:
Alternate Chairperson: Mr. J. Hanbidge
Members: Ms. K. Weisbaum Dr. R. Kunjukrishnan Dr. W. Loza Mr. A. Bouvier
Parties Appearing:
Accused: Shane Kellar Counsel: Ms. E. Holder
Person in charge of hospital: Counsel: Ms. T. Tom Representative: Dr. Z. Selhi
Attorney-General of Ontario: Counsel: Mr. A. R. Scott
REASONS FOR DISPOSITION
(Dated February 4, 2026)
Introduction, Issues, and Positions of the Parties
On November 19, 2020. Mr. Kellar was found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder (‘NCR’) on charges of arson with disregard for human life, being unlawfully in a dwelling, killing or injuring an animal other than cattle, and assault with a weapon.
Mr. Kellar is currently subject to a Disposition of the Board dated February 4, 2025, detaining him at the Secure Forensic Unit of Providence Care Hospital ('Providence Care') in Kingston, with a number of conditions and with privileges extending to living in the community of Kingston in accommodation approved by the person in charge.
On January 19, 2026, the Board convened at the hospital to conduct the annual review of Mr. Kellar's Disposition. The issues to be decided were whether Mr. Kellar poses a significant threat to the safety of the public, and, if so, what is the necessary and appropriate disposition for him for the coming year. In deciding the second issue, the Board is required by s. 672.54 of the Criminal Code to take four factors into account, being the safety of the public, as the paramount factor, and Mr. Kellar's mental condition, his reintegration into society, and his other needs.
The evidence at the hearing included a Hospital Report, dated December 19, 2025 (the ‘Hospital Report’), and the viva voce evidence of Dr. Zoe Selhi.
At the outset of the hearing, Ms. Tom indicated that the hospital was recommending no change to Mr. Kellar’s Disposition for the coming year, concurring with the unanimous view of Mr. Kellar's treatment team. Both Mr. Andrew R. Scott for the Attorney General and Ms. Erin Holder for Mr. Kellar supported that position. Their joint position was reiterated in closing submissions. For the reasons given below, the Board agreed and ordered the Disposition accordingly.
Index Offences
- The circumstances of the index offences are set out in the Hospital Report (pgs. 2-6), with relevant details noted in collateral information, and can be summarized as follows:
In the evening of September 25, 2019, Mr. Kellar entered the home of his former girlfriend, Ms. A., in the City of Quinte West, in order to visit his stepdaughter, Ms. A's daughter. Ms. A. was not there and he did not have her permission to be there.
Inside the house, he confronted Ms. A's new boyfriend, Mr. B. Mr. Kellar removed a knife from his waist band and placed it on the coffee table directly in front of Mr. B., attempting to threaten him. Fearing for his safety Mr. B. left the house.
Mr. Kellar, alone with his stepdaughter in the house, began to act strangely. He put the family cat in a second floor closet and, telling his stepdaughter there were people outside wanting to kill them, attempted to have her also stay in the closet for her safety. She refused to do that. She said Mr. Kellar set light to a book and told her not to tell anyone. She reportedly was frightened by the things he was telling her.
Shortly after, Mr. Kellar left the room, and his stepdaughter then noticed the smell of smoke, saw a bed on fire, and warned him. At about 7:30 p.m., he (perhaps with his stepdaughter) went to the neighbours and told them the house was on fire. The fire department was called, and Mr. Kellar (and his stepdaughter) returned to the driveway of the house. There, Mr. Kellar was confronted by Ms. A. and a witness. He fled on foot through an adjacent field. He was located and arrested a short distance away.
As a result of the fire, the family cat died and the house was extensively damaged.
Personal History, from the Hospital Report
The Hospital Report should be referred to for details of Mr. Kellar's personal background prior to the index offences. As that Report is an exhibit, its contents are not reiterated here. However, the following points are noted.
Mr. Kellar is now 41 years old, currently single, and apparently is estranged from his siblings and has no source of informal support from family members. He was born in Belleville, the middle of three brothers, and has an adopted sister and a stepsister. He never knew his biological father. His mother and stepfather ('father') were married for almost thirty years, and both have now died, his mother in about 2014 and his father in 2021.
Mr. Kellar went to school in Belleville and left secondary school just before completing Grade 12. He said he had been suspended “a lot” due to fighting with bullies. He has a history of childhood trauma, including verbal and physical abuse, as well as reported sexual abuse, and a previous Gladue Report is noted to have highlighted the impact of generational trauma on him. After school, he was employed in various jobs and described himself as "a jack of all trades". He moved back and forth between his parents' home and living with girlfriends. He reported having a number of children with different women, including twin boys who were adopted when he was seventeen years old.
Mr. Kellar has a prior history of crystal methamphetamine use over a five-year period, as well as hash oil, cocaine, and opioid use. He reported having received Methadone treatment, for about four years, prescribed by a doctor for him.
He apparently moved back in with his father sometime after his mother died. By that time, he had begun a relationship with Ms. A., which lasted about six years, during which she described him as having been very short-tempered, lashing out, and expressing a lot of paranoia. Their relationship ended in July 2019, shortly before the index offence. Ms. A described their separation as the result of his behaviours, including being paranoid and threatening. He saw his stepchildren periodically after that. Ms. A. reported that his stepdaughter – her daughter – told her she was happy to see Mr. Kellar upon his arrival on the day of the index offence.
His first hospital attendance for mental health care was on August 7, 2019, police brought him to a hospital Emergency Department, after finding him acting strangely: digging in a swamp in a delusional belief that Ms. A. was missing and buried there. He reported that, a day and a half previously, he had used crystal methamphetamine along with drinking seven or eight beers, and that he was taking Vyvanse and Methadone daily. His urine drug screen was positive for methamphetamines, amphetamines, and methadone. He was treated with activated charcoal. He declined addictions counselling offered, was verbally abusive and then physically aggressive, and he left the hospital about three hours after his arrival.
At the time of the index offence in September 2019, Mr. Kellar was living with his father in Trenton, Ontario. There are inconsistent accounts as to whether he was looking after his father, or his father was looking after him. In any event, there apparently was friction between them, with Mr. Kellar reportedly having been making paranoid accusations about his father and threats about Ms. A., pacing the house with knives, and making his father fearful of him.
Current Psychiatric Diagnoses, from the Hospital Report and Evidence at the Hearing
- Mr. Kellar is diagnosed with:
(1) Personality Disorder-Cluster B,
(2) Substance Use Disorder(s), in remission, and
(3) Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder ('ADHD'), by history.
- Mr. Kellar has a lengthy and serious history of criminal conduct, itemized in the Hospital Report. This history includes numerous convictions in the course of the fifteen years from 2002 (in Youth Court) through 2017 – for offences including assault causing bodily harm (two convictions), robbery, theft of a motor vehicle, possession of a weapon (four convictions), and numerous breaches of judicial orders, prohibitions, and undertakings. The sentences he has received range up to four months in custody with twelve months' probation, and repeated five-year discretionary Criminal Code weapons prohibitions.
Course under the Board’s Jurisdiction, from the Hospital Report
Reference should again be made to the Hospital Report for an account of Mr. Kellar's course under the Board, which will not be reiterated here, but the following points are noted.
In November 2020, on his admission to Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care ('Waypoint') following the NCR finding, he continued displaying a number of fairly entrenched persecutory delusions and was easily agitated when they were challenged. He was diagnosed at that time with delusional disorder and was started on antipsychotic medications.
In July 2021, he was transferred to Providence Care. Due to his notable mental stability, his treatment with antipsychotic medications was progressively tapered, and discontinued by December 2021. His diagnosis was changed from a delusional disorder to a substance-induced psychosis at the time of the index offence. Mr. Kellar continued to be stable and work well with his team and was granted a community living privilege in his May 2022 Disposition.
However, he became frustrated with not being discharged and began disengaging from treatment and disregarding unit rules. After two September 2022 incidents of verbal threats about his psychiatrist and a co-patient, his care was transferred to Dr. Selhi. He continued to disengage from almost all members of his treatment team. By early 2023, following a loss of privileges for breaking unit rules, he refused to engage in any groups.
In 2023, while Mr. Kellar remained free of any symptoms of primary psychotic disorder, it was noted that he displayed Cluster B personality traits, including feeling mistreated and victimized and having low frustration tolerance, which led to increasing anger and aggressive interactions, and impeded his ability to establish meaningful relationships. His diagnosis was changed to Personality Disorder–Cluster B, along with the Substance Use Disorder.
His annual Board review was postponed a few months, to October 5, 2023, to enable his counsel to explore this diagnostic change with him. At that hearing, recent improvements were noted. Mr. Kellar had become much more engaged with his team and had attended his case conferences and psychiatric interviews. He had repaired several relationships with staff and become more involved in informal groups on the unit. He had much less difficulty adhering to his disposition and hospital rules and had regained his use of privileges. Dr. Selhi testified at the hearing that, to progress, Mr. Kellar needed to (1) show his motivation to engage in long-term therapy, (2) re-engage with the team more than superficially, and (3) develop insight into both his substance abuse disorders and his personality disorder.
His previous reporting year is described (as of September 27, 2024) as "relatively uneventful especially when compared to his previous year", with much less difficulty with staff and less redirection needed, less hostility overall, fewer difficulties adhering to his privileges and unit rules, and better behavioural control this year. He was respectful towards Dr. C. Rose, his clinical and forensic psychologist, and increasingly able to accept feedback, acknowledge he could have put more effort into their work, and express appreciation for helpful sessions and support. He said he would consider re-engaging with that therapy, once he was living in the community and had stronger motivation to attend on a regular basis.
At the same time, ongoing concerns are noted. Mr. Kellar continued his pattern of disengaging from treatment programs, such as psychotherapy and other modalities, including ones he had specifically requested. He frequently declined therapy sessions, case conferences, and other appointments. For example, Dr. Rose noted (pgs. 30-32) that he attended only 9 of 23 scheduled individual therapy sessions over the six months up to May 2024, missing or cancelling most of them, and when he did attend, his engagement did not reflect his stated motivation. He did not improve in his attendance and engagement despite Dr. Rose's many strategies and efforts to help him with that. He was assessed as overall still at a contemplative or pre-contemplative stage of readiness for change.
Mr. Kellar explained at that time that he preferred to address alcohol use in particular, and to do that through Alcohol and Narcotics Anonymous (“AA” and “NA”) meetings rather than individual therapy; that he did not feel comfortable sharing aspects of his life with the treatment team, and that he wanted to be true to himself and was satisfied with the way he was.
However, he lost motivation and had not followed through with AA and NA meetings, or with his stated employment and educational goals, by late September 2024. He had several instances of breaking rules, by trading on the unit and returning late from passes. In June 2024, he was involved in one significant physical altercation, in his aggressive retaliation when assaulted by a patient; he scored 8 on the Aggressive Incident Scale (“AIS'”, declared a high risk for violence on the unit (a 'grit red' status), and placed in seclusion until the next day. He acknowledged holding attitudes supportive of violence, seeing them as necessary to protect himself and vulnerable others. He was not interested, while under the Board, in
addressing such issues as the influence of childhood adversity and trauma on his adult thinking and behaviour.
As for Mr. Kellar’s clinical status for the most recent reporting period from September 2024 to December 2025, the Hospital Report notes that on May 1, 2025, Mr. Kellar was discharged from the forensic unit at PCH to an independent apartment situated in Kingston, ON.
Mr. Kellar’s discharge followed five years of continuous inpatient forensic hospitalization, initially at Waypoint Centre for MHC, then at PCH.
The Hospital Report further notes that Mr. Kellar did not demonstrate any episodes of violence prior to discharge. He was also highly motivated to work with PCH’s outpatient forensic staff.
Mr. Kellar spent the early stages of adjusting to his changed environment, with him attending all appointments and conferences. He also engaged in the programming offered through the PCH forensic outpatient program, to a far greater extent than seen on the inpatient unit of the hospital. Yet, over the past several months, Mr. Kellar’s attendance at various groups, both in the local community (i.e. NA/AA) or via PCH’s outpatient forensic program (i.e. SMART Recovery, Solution Seekers), have decreased. Mr. Kellar has cited sleep-wake cycle problems/tiredness as contributing factors. While he was later diagnosed with sleep apnea, Mr. Kellar continued to have difficulty with motivation even after treatment. He has also not pursued vocational or educational endeavours.
However, Mr. Kellar has remained adherent to his requirements under the Board, including meeting with PCH outpatient forensic staff.
Mr. Kellar also socializes with peers, keeps his apartment clean, and spends time walking and watching TV.
Mr. Kellar had no issues with prescribed medication compliance over the past year’s reporting period, despite some changes to his medication regimen, including replacing Methadone with Sublocade, and starting on Bupropion (a non-stimulant medication intended for his concentration and/or self-reported mood problems).
As for rule adherence, Mr. Kellar spent the majority of the recent reporting period in the community with no necessity for his readmission to PCH. His urine drug screens (that occurred randomly and at minimum every month) were negative. As well, Mr. Kellar had no episodes of violence or interactions with law enforcement officials.
As for Mr. Kellar’s perceived significant threat to public safety, the Hospital Report summarizes, at pages 39 – 40, as follows:
“Mr. Kellar is a 41-year-old NCR accused with a lengthy criminal record history and serious index offence. He was discharged into the community form the forensic unit at Providence Care in May 2025. While he has adjusted well to independent living, he had slowly reduced his participation in programming. Given this, the reduced structure of a community setting, and his history of low frustration tolerance during times of stress, he remains at risk of resuming a criminogenic lifestyle without continued supervision under the Ontario Review Board.
While Mr. Kellar has historically derived little benefit from psychotherapeutic initiatives, he does benefit from the structure these programs provide, especially since he is not employed. Similarly, case management services including medication monitoring and drug testing are critical factors to medicating Mr. Kellar’s violence risk in this early stage of his community release.
It is likely that Mr. Kellar would require hospitalization should he use substances given that his violence risk would escalate precipitously; his index offence was the result of not only the disinhibitory effects of active substance use but also a substance-induced psychosis. Furthermore, while he was not violent over the reporting period, he has been known to resort to violence with a highly structured setting without the use of substances>
In summary, Mr. Kellar remains a significant threat to the public and no changes to his disposition (detention order) are recommended.”
Viva Voce Evidence of Dr. Z. Selhi
Dr. Selhi has been Mr. Kellar’s attending psychiatrist since September 2022. Dr. Selhi is a co-author of the Hospital Report and adopts its contents, including her opinion that Mr. Kellar continues to represent a significant threat to public safety.
The factors leading to this opinion were noted by Dr. Selhi, including Mr. Kellar’s lengthy and serious history of criminal conduct, the commission of his serious and violent index offences, his diagnoses of Cluster B Personality Disorder as well as his significant history of a Substance Use Disorder, his limited ability to engage in treatment, and his recent reduction in engagement in group therapies since being discharged to live in the community.
According to Dr. Selhi, the significant development in Mr. Kellar’s care in the past reporting period was Mr. Kellar’s transition to independent living (in his own apartment) in the community. This arrangement is going well for Mr. Kellar. He was more engaged with the treatment team and group therapy participation in the beginning, then he dropped off his involvement. He is now beginning to re-engage by attending meetings. He also meets with the treatment team with no issues being reported. He has not needed to be re-admitted to hospital. He has also been medication compliant.
Dr. Selhi further testified that Mr. Kellar has abstained from substance use. There have been no reported positive urine drug screening test results for Mr. Kellar, despite him being randomly tested on an ongoing basis once weekly. There are no other concerns by the treatment team concerning Mr. Kellar’s substance use.
As noted, Mr. Kellar has begun re-attending some offered programs, including AA and SMART Recovery.
An excerpt from page 39 of the Hospital Report (under Summary of Risk & Conclusions) was brought to Dr. Selhi’s attention. The excerpt stated: “…While [Mr. Kellar] has adjusted well to independent living, he has slowly reduced his participation in programming. Given this, the reduce structure of a community setting, and his history of low frustration tolerance during times of stress, he remains a risk of resuming a criminogenic lifestyle without continued supervision under the Ontario Review Board.”
In response, Dr. Selhi testified that it is important that Mr. Kellar remains engaged in programming, has proper sleep, is involved with peer groups, and is PCH outpatient staff supported, as he is in need of structure for his continued mental health well-being and to help mitigate his risk. It is important to help Mr. Kellar reduce his stress level to avoid him resuming any criminal activities and/or engage in further substance use (a major risk factor in his case).
It was Dr. Selhi’s further opinion that Mr. Kellar’s insight into the need for structure in his life is rather limited, but he does value the programs offered which, in turn, help him to remain abstinent from illicit substance use.
Dr. Selhi indicated the focus for the upcoming reporting period will be to keep Mr. Kellar engaged and to ensure he meets all the demands placed on him when meeting with his treatment team.
When asked why it is important that Mr. Kellar remain subject to the Board’s Detention Order Disposition, Dr. Selhi noted that such a Disposition was important in that Mr. Kellar only recently was allowed community living after a lengthy inpatient hospitalization. In the event Mr. Kellar resumes his substance use (with his history, in particular, of using crystal methamphetamine – a stimulant) he is likely to decompensate quite quickly and would need to be evaluated at hospital as soon as possible. The Mental Health Act (“MHA”) of Ontario would be inadequate to re-admit Mr. Kellar in these circumstances when he has only been using substances as a means to justify readmission without concurrent eligible mental decompensation.
In response to questions posed by Mr. Scott, on behalf of the Attorney General, Dr. Selhi testified that should Mr. Kellar use illicit substances, this will affect his risk. Mr. Kellar has a Cluster B Personality Disorder which limits his insight into the effects of using substances. It is important to provide Mr. Kellar with structure through group programming, even though it does not change his level of insight or change his perception.
Without the oversight of the Board’s Disposition, Dr, Selhi opined that there was a high likelihood of Mr. Kellar returning to his prior lifestyle which includes the use of substances, especially crystal meth use.
In response to questions posed by Ms. Holder, counsel for Mr. Kellar, Dr. Selhi testified that Mr. Kellar’s diagnosis of sleep apnea was made a number of months ago while Mr. Kellar was residing in the community. As a result, Mr. Kellar was provided with a CPAP machine approximately two months ago. When it was suggested that Mr. Kellar was feeling tired throughout the day due to lack of sleep, which, in turn, may have explained his lack of motivation to participate in programming, Dr. Selhi disagreed noting Mr. Kellar’s participation level was high before discharge and soon after being placed in the community, and prior to the sleep apnea diagnosis. His subsequent return to attending programming had more to do with Dr. Selhi telling him to re-attend.
Dr. Selhi indicated that Mr. Kellar needs to continue his participation with the SMART Recovery programming, as well as Solution Seekers (a forensic group), and AA.
In response to panel members’ questions, Dr. Selhi noted that the SMART Recovery program deals with addictions and substance use issues, while the Solutions Seekers forensic program addresses mental health well-being issues, including how to regain insight into one’s mental health diagnoses.
Dr. Selhi indicated that Mr. Kellar’s participation in these programs dipped for a period, but has now recovered, with him doing well in these programs. Dr. Selhi added that Mr. Kellar had a history of not being engaged in programs when he was still an inpatient in hospital. He needs more programming going forward.
When asked whether Mr. Kellar had ever been engaged in programming to address his past violent behaviour, Dr. Selhi indicated that Mr. Kellar had an opportunity to engage in DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy - an evidence-based, structured, talk therapy designed to help individuals with intense emotions, self-harm, or Borderline Personality Disorder) with Dr. Rose at the hospital, but he declined.
When it was suggested that Mr. Kellar needs to get involved in community-based volunteer and/or employment initiatives, Dr. Selhi noted that Mr. Kellar was not presently putting in the effort to participate as suggested in an ongoing effort to get him further motivated.
Dr. Selhi confirmed that Mr. Kellar’s current medication regimen was needed to treat both his personality issues as well as his substance use issues.
To date, according to Dr. Selhi, Mr. Kellar’s use of a CPAP machine to address his sleep apnea condition has not resulted in any noticeable change in Mr. Kellar’s motivation level.
Closing Submissions
- Counsel for all parties maintained their joint position as outlined at the commencement of the hearing, as noted previously in paragraph 5.
Analysis and Conclusions of the Board
On the first issue, this panel of the Board has no hesitation in finding that at this time, Mr. Kellar represents a significant threat to the safety of the public. This was uncontested at the hearing, and the finding is amply supported by the evidence.
The term “significant threat” is defined in s. 672.5401 of the Criminal Code as “a risk of serious physical or psychological harm to a member of the public … resulting from conduct that is criminal in nature but not necessarily violent.” A significant threat finding must be guided by the principles of law established in Winko v. British Columbia (Forensic Psychiatric Institute), 1999 CanLII 694 (SCC), [1999] 2 S.C.R. 625, as applied and elaborated in numerous judicial decisions since then. To state this jurisprudence in only a nutshell: A finding of significant threat cannot be speculative; it must be based on evidence. It requires positive findings, supported by the evidence, that the threat that a person would engage in criminal conduct is a “real” threat, and that the harm this conduct would cause would be “serious”. Both findings are required: Neither a miniscule risk of grave harm, nor a high risk of trivial harm, is sufficient to find a real threat of serious harm.
A Psychological Risk Assessment Report of September 16, 2024, by clinical and forensic psychologist Dr. D. Douglas, of the results for Mr. Kellar on the HCR-20-v.3 and SAPROF risk measurement instruments, is summarized in detail in the Hospital Report. Dr. Douglas estimated that the longer-term risk of violent reoffence for him is moderate-to-high, and the shorter-term risk is low-to-low/moderate.
The evidence is that Mr. Kellar has diagnoses of a Personality Disorder with Cluster B traits along with Substance Use Disorder (including methamphetamine, opioid, and alcohol use, in remission while he had been detained in a forensic hospital under the Board's jurisdiction). In combination, these maladies seem repeatedly to have led to his becoming extremely paranoid, delusional, threatening, and lashing out defensively, including in serious physical aggression and other harmful criminal conduct, as in the tragic arson in his index offence (which also involved his threat with a gun) and in serious assault, weapons, and robbery offences in his past.
He has partly but not fully made progress that was needed and hoped for. He still showed a low level of insight into both his substance use disorders and his personality disorder traits. He lost his motivation and fell away from engaging in long-term therapy and other treatments for both, until recently when he has been doing quite well. He has re-engaged in the structured programming necessary for his continued well-being and reduced risk to reoffend. He remains vulnerable to stressors and lacking in skills to cope well with them. In 2023 and in 2024, he acknowledged having pro-violence beliefs about physical aggression as a way to resolve perceived wrongs through revenge or retribution. In 2023, his veiled threats about his psychiatrist led to a change in his attending physician. In June 2024, his level of physical aggression (in response to a patient's assault on him) led to his being assessed as a high risk on the unit and placed in seclusion until the next day.
While under the Board's jurisdiction – and previously detained in the highly structured and secure forensic hospital setting, with close oversight and support from his treatment team and hospital staff – Mr. Kellar's violence had mostly been contained, he had abstained from alcohol and other substance use, and he had adhered to medication treatment (although no other treatment). He continues to adhere to these expectations and requirements while current residing independently in the community.
Based on all the evidence, we find there is a real risk at this time that, if he were not under the jurisdiction of the Board, Mr. Kellar would not be able to manage his risk on his own, and he would engage in seriously harmful criminal conduct against a member of the public, similar to that in his index offence and other past violent offences. To protect the safety of the public requires his oversight by the hospital under the Board’s jurisdiction for the year ahead.
On the second issue, of the Disposition for the coming year, we again agree with the joint position of the parties, which is also well-supported by the evidence.
The hospital's anticipated plan for Mr. Kellar in this new reporting year is to continue with the process of his living in the community in approved housing. In Dr. Selhi's opinion on this point, in her 'Summary of Risk and Conclusion' in the Hospital Report (continuing from the quotation set out in paragraph 40):
"While Mr. Kellar has historically derived little benefit from psychotherapeutic initiatives, he does benefit from the structure these programs provide, especially since he is not employed. Similarly, case management services including medication monitoring and drug testing are critical factors to mediating <r. Kellar’s violence risk in this early stage of his community release.
It is likely that Mr. Kellar would require hospitalization should he use substances given that his violence risk would escalate precipitously; his index offence was the result of not only the disinhibitory effects of active substance use but also a substance-induced psychosis. Furthermore, while he has not been violent over the reporting period, he has
been known to resort to violence within a highly structured setting without the use of substances.
In summary, Mr. Kellar remains a significant threat to the public and no changes to his disposition (detention order) are recommended.”
Clearly, at this time a Detention Order continues to be the necessary and appropriate Disposition. While not recommended by the parties, the Board nevertheless finds that a Conditional Discharge Disposition is unrealistic, and a Detention Disposition is necessary and appropriate to protect the public, as jointly recommended by all parties. The Hospital requires the ability to continue to approve Mr. Kellar’s housing, which must be appropriately supported and/or supervised to ensure his risk is properly managed in the community. Furthermore, given Mr. Kellar’s increased risk for substance use when living independently in the community, the likely rapidity of his resulting decompensation into serious paranoia, delusions, and reactive violence, coupled with the unlikelihood of Mr. Kellar voluntarily returning to hospital under such circumstances, the hospital requires the ability to return him quickly to the hospital. Consequently, the MHA would not suffice to manage the risk under a Conditional Discharge Disposition. Accordingly, a Conditional Discharge would not adequately protect the safety of the public and would not serve Mr. Kellar's own interests in effective treatment, rehabilitation, and an ultimately successful continued reintegration into community life.
At the same time, Dr. Selhi stressed that Mr. Kellar's risk of violence may increase in the absence of Mr. Kellar’s continued need for structure, including ongoing programming participation and connection with the treatment team members. The foreseeable risk factors will include increased stressors and challenges to manage, easier access to alcohol and other intoxicating substances, and more distance and less frequency in his interactions with the hospital’s outpatient treatment team and staff, who are his main supports at this time.
Mr. Kellar's outpatient treatment team and case management staff members, and, in particular, Mr. Kellar’s treating psychiatrist, Dr. Selhi, are obviously well aware of his treatment, supervision, and risk management needs going forward, in the course of his continued placement in independent housing while living in the local community. They are the experts working together with Mr. Kellar, to support his positive engagement in recommended treatment, training, and activities in the community, and thus to protect the safety of the public along with his own wellbeing and personal progress.
In making this Disposition, the Board carefully considered the joint position of the parties, the evidence of Dr. Selhi, and the contents of the Hospital Report entered as an exhibit at the hearing and is satisfied that this determination is both necessary and appropriate. The Board reviewed the provisions of sections 672.54 and 672.5401 of the Criminal Code and carefully considered the need to protect the public from dangerous persons (with the public’s safety being the Board’s paramount consideration), Mr. Kellar’s mental condition, and his reintegration into society and his other needs.
We wish all the best to Mr. Kellar in the new year ahead, in his work with his treatment and his other good supports to come in the community.
DATED this 4th day of February 2026, at the City of Toronto, in the Toronto Region.
Mr. J. Hanbidge
Alternate Chairperson
__________________
Office of the Registrar
Ontario Review Board