Re: Christopher Brunet
ORB File No: 6241
Hearing held on: Thursday, March 19, 2026
Place of hearing: North Bay Regional Health Centre
Pursuant to: Section 672.81 of the Criminal Code
Before:
Alternate Chairperson: Mr. M.D. Segal
Members Dr. W. Komer
Dr. P. Wright
Ms. N. Nathanson
Mr. A. Bouvier
Parties Appearing:
Accused: Christopher Brunet (not present)
Amicus Curiae: Mr. W. Stickland
Person in Charge of Hospital: Representative: Ms. J. Doyon
Counsel: Mr. P. Trenker
Attorney-General of Ontario: Counsel: Ms. M. Mazurski
REASONS FOR DISPOSITION
(Dated April 10, 2026)
Introduction:
Christopher Brunet, age 46, was on November 15th, 2012, found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder on charges of assault and mischief not exceeding $5000 contrary to the Criminal Code.
Mr. Brunet, who is currently detained at the Forensic Program of North Bay Regional Health Centre – North Bay Site (“the Hospital”), with privileges up to and including to live in the community in the catchment area of the hospital in accommodation approved by the person in charge, had his annual hearing before the Ontario Review Board (“the Board”) on March 19th, 2026. Mr. Brunet, as he had done last year, declined to attend the hearing. Mr. W.G. Stickland had no instructions and was appointed as amicus curiae. The Board was made aware that Mr. Brunet was aware of his hearing but declined to participate in it. Mr. Brunet indicated that he did not see the need for a lawyer. He preferred to attend a scheduled class instead. The Board made an order permitting the hearing to proceed in his absence.
The Board had before it as Exhibit 1 the Hospital Report dated February 18th, 2026.
Position of the Parties:
- In preliminary positions the Hospital and Crown counsel supported the current Disposition. Amicus took no position. By the conclusion of the hearing the Board agreed that the current Disposition represented the correct balance between Mr. Brunet’s needs and the protection of the pubic.
Current Diagnoses:
Schizophrenia
Narcissistic Personality Disorder
Index Offences:
- The Hospital Report sets out the circumstances surrounding the Index Offences as follows: set out the following:
“1. September 1, 2012: Mischief Under $5000 The accused in this matter is Christopher Brunet (DOB: 24 April 1979) and is currently an inpatient in the Acute Psychiatry Unit at the North Bay Regional Health Centre. On the 1st of September 2012, the accused was in the lounge area of the D2 Ward at the North Bay Regional Health Centre, when he began to rip two couch cushions causing damage to them. The accused was subsequently escorted to his room on the D2 Ward, at which point he began to rip his foam mattress from his bed. The accused was escorted to the D2 seclusion room, where he ripped an alert sensor off the ceiling. The accused was moved to a seclusion room on the C2 Ward, where he took his clothes off, stuffed them in the toilet and began to flood the room. The accused was escorted back to the D2 seclusion room, where he again began to flood the room by plugging the toilet. The accused was moved back to the C2 seclusion room, where he began to rip off the metal plates on the doors and ripped off a security camera hanging from the ceiling area. The accused put the camera into the toilet and again began to flood the room. The accused was subsequently chemically restrained at this point by hospital staff. On the 2nd of September 2012, Constable Jackson of the North Bay Police Service attended the North Bay Regional Health Centre and spoke with Dawn Bougie, the shift supervisor, in relation to the accused. The accused was subsequently charged with one count of Mischief Over $5000. He was provided his Rights to Counsel and Caution and was released at the scene on an Appearance Notice with a court date for the 6th of November 2012.
- September 30, 2012: Assault The accused in this matter is Christopher Brunet (DOB: 24 April 1979) and is currently an involuntary patient being treated at the Northeast Regional Health Centre for psychiatric disorders. The victim is Dr. Brian Talarico, who is a psychiatrist at the Northeast Regional Health Centre, Psychiatric Unit. On September 30, 2012, shortly after 8:00 a.m., the victim, Dr. Talarico, was seeing patients at the Northeast Regional Health Centre in the inpatient psychiatric unit, D2. The victim left the interview room when he was suddenly attacked without warning by the accused, Christopher Brunet. The accused lunged at the victim and punched him repeatedly on the right side of his head. The attack stopped when staff members intervened. The accused was then transferred to another area of the unit for safety reasons. The injuries sustained were cuts to the right ear, which included redness and swelling.”
Background:
- Mr. Brunet is single. He lived in North Bay from January 2014 to December 3rd, 2023, when he voluntarily admitted himself to hospital. Mr. Brunet had a lengthy psychiatric history with eight admissions to hospital from 1996 to 2012. He is incapable to provide consent to treatment. The Public Guardian and Trustee is his substitute decision maker. Mr. Brunet has the longstanding support of his mother.
Evidence at Hearing:
Dr. J-G Gagnon has been the patient’s psychiatrist for the last six weeks but had reviewed the file. Last year, Mr. Brunet advocated for indirect privileges and has been managing them well. He visits the public library several times a week. Mr. Brunet is very sensitive to noise and hustle and bustle. The public library is very quiet. Mr. Brunet wanted to attend the Canadore College library but that was deemed unsuitable. That library is filled with many students and is noisy. There were also concerns about how Mr. Brunet would relate to female students. When in an environment that involves lots of people and noise Mr. Brunet becomes aggressive and agitated.
Mr. Brunet believes he is a professor, an accomplished researcher and very knowledgeable regarding science. He is apparently accessing science books at the public library. However, Mr. Brunet is working on completing high school. He aspires to have a PhD. He believes he is a published author.
Dr. Gagnon noted that incidents arise spontaneously and often in response to stimuli. After reflection, Mr. Brunet apologizes. Mr. Brunet wholly misinterpreted the decision that he should not attend the Canadore College library as indicating that the Hospital viewed him as a pedophile. It took several sessions to dissuade Mr. Brunet of that idea.
Mr. Brunet wishes to live in independent housing, a status he views as consistent with him being an accomplished researcher. He does not have the funds. He has been offered a placement at a group home – Maplewood – but viewed it as beneath him.
Dr. Gagnon is of the view that if it was up to the patient Mr. Brunet would stop his medications resulting in the return of serious mental health issues and danger to the public would ensue.
At present, Mr. Brunet is living in the Osprey Lodge which houses the most stable patients – those who do not have acute symptoms. There is less hustle and bustle in that lodge. Mr. Brunet had to move lodges because the presence of a ping pong table in his old lodge was significantly upsetting him. Mr. Brunet walks around with headphones to cancel out noise.
If Mr. Brunet were to enter a group home it would have to be a highly supportive one, but he would not accept such a placement.
Several incidents are noted in the Hospital Report including rude and argumentative behaviour, and in one case, racially inappropriate language with staff (pages 100, 101).
Mr. Brunet has begun psychotherapy sessions. The Risk Assessment was prepared in December 2024.
“Mr. Brunet is a 45-year-old male repeat offender with a long history of treatment-refractory mental illness and a remote history of substance abuse and violence. His history is also significant for non -compliance with medication and psychiatric follow-up. He also has a history of both violent and non -violent offending. Noteworthy is Mr. Brunet’s violent attitude and the belief that violence and aggression are tools to be utilized. Mr. Brunet also struggles with an inflated sense of self-worth and grandiosity.
Prior to interviewing Mr. Brunet, we reviewed the results from his PCL-R:2 assessment completed in December 2013 at Waypoint Hospital. Prior to interpreting these results, we considered Mr. Brunet’s demographic, psychosocial, and mental health history to ensure his representation in the normative sample. We also reviewed his most recent psychosocial and adjustment history to note any enduring and significant changes that may impact the scoring of the PCL-R:2. We believe, based on our analysis and research, that the PCL-R:2 can be included in our opinion of his current risk for violent and non-violent recidivism.
The following are the results from the administration of the revised version of the VRAG. As such, the score and categorization may differ from the previous version.
Based on his score on the VRAG-R, Mr. Brunet was situated in category 5 of 9 for risk of violent recidivism. Among offenders in the development and validation studies, approximately 46.7% obtained higher scores. That is, Mr. Brunet was categorized as a higher risk (for violent recidivism) than 53.3% of the development and validation studies. Although we are providing absolute recidivism rates, the publisher’s recommendation is to place a higher emphasis on percentiles (bolded above) as they seem to be a “very stable metric for decisions regarding allocation of resources for supervision and detention”.
Proportion expected to meet criteria for violent recidivism (Risk Bin 5):
Within 5 years of fixed opportunity: 26%
Within 12 years of fixed opportunity: 51%
Based on this previous administration, Mr. Brunet total score placed him at the 16th percentile (compared to male forensic psychiatric patients), which is to say that 84% of the male forensic psychiatric sample had higher scores. His score on Factor 1 (i.e., lifestyle and affective traits) was in the 36th percentile. That is, approximately 64% have higher scores than Mr. Brunet on this factor.
His score on Factor 2 (i.e., social deviance and antisociality) was in the 21st percentile, which is to say that 79% of male forensic psychiatric patients scored higher on this factor.
Measures of risk attempt to identify and assess empirically derived risk factors related to personality (i.e., psychopathy), cognition and beliefs (i.e., attitudes, values, and beliefs related to antisocial and criminal behaviours), and social learning (i.e., rewards and costs associated of criminal and prosocial behaviour). Mr. Brunet’s risk for violence is most strongly linked to his psychiatric illness and inflated sense of self-worth. Strongly contributing to his risk has been his inability to demonstrate any enduring change from his treatment and supervision. His response to medication has also been suboptimal. His risk remains essentially unchanged and close monitoring is still highly recommended for a period of 12 months. Similar to` the previous reporting period, he continues to struggle with stress sensitivity, poor treatment responsiveness, and a lack of insight into his mental illness. Scenarios where Mr. Brunet is likely to be violent in the future are likely to involve reactive, unplanned, and impulsive acts. Mr. Brunet is likely prone to inferring that others are thwarting his plans. There is also a possibility that future violence is driven by “narcissistic anger”. That is, he may act out violently when his self-esteem is damaged or in question. Other scenarios where he is likely to be violent are related to a psychotic decompensation.”
Analysis:
- The Board concludes that significant risk is present. This is well summarized in the factors found in the Hospital Report.
“1. Mr. Brunet suffers from a significant mental illness with a diagnosis of Schizophrenia. The acute manifestations of his illness include paranoia, grandiose and persecutory delusions, thought disorder, auditory hallucinations, irrational anger, irritability, hostility and threatening, intimidating and aggressive behaviour.
Mr. Brunet has continued to assert his disbelief in psychiatry and psychopharmacological treatments. Mr. Brunet lacks insight into the nature and quality of his mental disorder and his need for reliable adherence to psychopharmacological treatment; he denies having a psychiatric illness and expresses paranoid beliefs that medications are harmful to him.
Mr. Brunet has an extensive psychiatric history with numerous admissions, as detailed throughout the hospital report.
Mr. Brunet has a history of engaging in antisocial behaviour. His criminal record contains charges for non-violent crimes such as Break and Enter, Theft, and Theft Under $5000.
Mr. Brunet has a criminal record, which dates to 1997 and documents a history of aggressive behaviour comprised of Uttering Threats and Assault charges. His index offence includes a charge of Assault against his psychiatrist.
Mr. Brunet has engaged in intimidating behaviour toward staff and has demonstrated a lack of accountability for his actions while displacing blame.
Mr. Brunet has a longstanding history of non-compliance with medication and recommended follow-up in the community, resulting in rapid decompensation. Even with adherence to a long-acting intramuscular antipsychotic medication, Mr. Brunet’s psychotic symptoms are not entirely controlled.
Mr. Brunet has chronic delusions and has a periodic increase in grandiosity and persecutory delusions. As Mr. Brunet has trouble managing common and minor frustrations, his mental health rapidly deteriorates when faced with mundane stressors. 9. Other than having a few jobs in the past, Mr. Brunet has never been gainfully employed.
Mr. Brunet has a limited social network, and his family relationships are limited.”
The current Disposition permits significant privileges. Unfortunately, because of his continued mental illness, Mr. Brunet cannot accept a placement in a group home.
The privilege to attend a public library is relatively new and is working well so far.
In all the circumstances, the current Disposition represents the least onerous and least restrictive Disposition that balances Mr. Brunet’s needs and the protection of the public. We wish Mr. Brunet well in the upcoming year.
DATED this 10th day of April 2026, at the City of Toronto, in the Toronto Region.
Mr. M.D. Segal
Legal Member
Office of the Registrar
Ontario Review Board