Ontario Review Board
Re: Richard Fortin
ORB File No: 7830
Hearing held on: Wednesday, February 11, 2026
Place of Hearing: Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre
Pursuant to: Section 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code
Before:
Alternate Chairperson: Ms. M. Labrosse
Members: Dr. S. Lessard
Dr. G. Boulais
Mr. D. Sandor
Ms. B. Naegele
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 18, 2026)
Introduction
On December 18, 2020, the accused, Richard Fortin, was found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder (“NCR”) on a charge of first-degree murder contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada.
Mr. Fortin is currently subject to a disposition of the Ontario Review Board (“ORB”) dated February 4, 2025, detaining him at the Secure Forensic Unit of the hospital with privileges up to and including community living in 24-hour supervised accommodation approved by the person in charge.
On February 11, 2026, the Ontario Review Board (“ORB”) convened a hearing at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre, hereinafter referred to as the hospital, to review Mr. Fortin’s last disposition pursuant to s. 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code.
Mr. Fortin attended the hearing virtually from the hospital unit due to having contracted Covid-19. He was represented by his counsel, Ms. Melanie Lord. The hospital report dated January 12, 2026, was entered as Exhibit 1 for the hearing.
The issues for this hearing are whether Mr. Fortin continues to pose a significant threat to the safety of the public, and if so, to determine the necessary and appropriate disposition for the coming year.
At the outset, the parties provided their preliminary without prejudice positions for the hearing, which consisted of a joint position for the maintenance of the current detention order. The parties maintained this joint position in closing submissions.
For the reasons set out below, the Board finds that Mr. Fortin continues to pose a significant threat to the safety of the public and that the detention order, on the same terms and conditions, remains the necessary and appropriate, and least onerous and least restrictive disposition to manage the risk to public safety.
Background History
The details of Mr. Fortin’s personal, legal, and psychiatric are set out in the hospital report (Exhibit 1). Briefly summarized, Fortin is 80 years of age and was born in Ottawa. He grew up in a Francophone Catholic family of nine brothers and sisters. His father worked as a plasterer in his own business. His mother worked in the home, taking care of the children and household duties. The parents were married and stayed together until Mr. Fortin’s mother died in 2012. Mr. Fortin’s father passed away in 2015.
Mr. Fortin left school at about 12 years of age, after Grade 7. He may have had learning difficulties and did not receive any further formal education. During his youth, Mr. Fortin worked as a labourer. He took up the plastering trade, like his father and brothers. He first worked in the family business and continued in the trade until retirement, at about age 60. By then, Mr. Fortin was suffering from longstanding back pain. He applied for and received financial support from an Ontario program for those with chronic physical disabilities. He also receives benefits from the Canada Pension Plan, and Old Age Security.
In 1963, at age 18, Mr. Fortin married his first partner, Susan Fortin. After having three children, they separated and divorced.
In 1985, Mr. Fortin and Ms. Denise Dubois started their relationship when he was about 39. The couple have lived as common law spouses for 35 years. They have three children together.
As a child, Mr. Fortin was struck by a bus at the age of 8. There is little information about his injuries from the accident. Mr. Fortin and Ms. Dubois reported he has never had a head injury or any epilepsy crisis. Mr. Fortin was followed by his family doctor for several years. He suffers from a heart condition and coronary artery disease, hypertension, sleep apnea, hypothyroidism, degenerative disc disease, asthma and reflux.
Mr. Fortin has no reported substance use issues.
Legal History
- Mr. Fortin has no prior criminal record.
Previous Psychiatric History
Before the November 2018 index offence, Mr. Fortin had never been diagnosed or treated for any psychiatric condition. Mr. Fortin reported that one of his sisters may probably have received a diagnosis of some kind, whether psychosis, schizophrenia, or bipolar disorder. According to Ms. Dubois, his sister suffers from Alzheimer’s dementia. Both Mr. Fortin and Ms. Dubois deny any other psychiatric illness among family members.
Mr. Fortin’s current diagnoses are:
Delusional disorder
Minor neurocognitive disorder, probably of vascular type
Obstructive sleep apnea
Evidence at the Hearing
The hospital’s evidence was presented through its report as well as through the oral testimony of Mr. Fortin’s attending psychiatrist with the hospital Forensic Program, Dr. Melanie Strike. This evidence is summarized below.
Dr. Strike adopted the contents of the hospital report and advised that there were no significant updates to provide for the hearing. Mr. Fortin contracted the Covid-19 virus and has been quite ill. He was hospitalized for four days at the Ottawa Civic campus where he underwent a course of antibiotics. Mr. Fortin also experienced an episode of delirium associated with the Covid-19 virus and is currently in isolation on the Forensic Rehabilitation Unit. He attended the hearing virtually from his room.
Mr. Fortin continues to have regular visits with his spouse Denise, at a frequency of twice per week. He also has regular calls with his sister, Lise Leroux, who is his substitute decision-maker.
The hospital continues to search for an appropriate long-term care placement for Mr. Fortin. They have identified three choices of suitable possible long-term care residences, and it is hoped that Mr. Fortin will be discharged to one of them over the course of the next year.
The hospital’s social worker, Lindsay McLean, has been in touch with Home and Community Care Services, which deals with long term care placements in Ottawa. There have been preliminary discussions on how to support Mr. Fortin once he is placed and how to put in place certain safeguards to protect against Mr. Fortin developing delusional thoughts about people in the residence where he will be living. Should Mr. Fortin start to have paranoid thoughts and delusional thinking around the people in the residence, this will make it very difficult to maintain him in his placement. The hospital is doing everything that it can to ensure that the placement is successful.
Mr. Fortin has developed a good relationship with a new recreational therapist on the unit, and they will be starting a program of chair yoga, along with other patients on the unit, to ensure that Mr. Fortin maintains his physical and mental health and to hopefully slow down any further decline. This program will be adapted to accommodate someone like Mr. Fortin who suffers from a neurocognitive disorder.
In response to questions posed to her by counsel for the Attorney General, Ms. Dufort, Dr. Strike confirmed that the family is aligned with the treatment plan and that Mr. Fortin’s sister continues to be very involved. As well, his wife Denise is a good personal support for him. The hospital continues not to allow Mr. Fortin to go to her place for visits and she also comes to the hospital regularly.
In response to questions posed to her by counsel for Mr. Fortin, Ms. Lord, Dr. Strike confirmed that all three residences that have been selected as potential community living for Mr. Fortin would meet the criteria of 24/7 supervised accommodation.
With respect to Mr. Fortin’s sleep apnea, he recently had an appointment with the sleep apnea specialist and with the distributor of the CPAP machine. Mr. Fortin has not been wearing his CPAP mask, and this is apparently due to lesions and calcifications in his mouth which has been caused by a poorly fitting denture. The hospital is attempting to set up surgery to remove the cysts that are in Mr. Fortin’s mouth which are causing these problems with the CPAP machine. The are now waiting to see if the surgeon will accept to do the surgery given Mr. Fortin’s age and condition.
In response to Ms. Lord’s questions, Dr. Strike stated that she was not made aware of any conclusion reached by any of these professionals that Mr. Fortin might not suffer from sleep apnea. She has no knowledge of this but will verify.
In response to questions posed to her by members of the Board hearing panel, Dr. Strike acknowledged that previous attempts to place Mr. Fortin in long term care have failed due to his delusional and neurocognitive disorders which have caused him to incorporate people into his delusion that he is being pursed by a “gang”. Dr. Strike explained that one of the strategies that will be employed is to limit or eliminate nightly checks. Mr. Fortin seemed to react very negatively to having staff enter his room in the middle of the night and that this apparently triggered delusional beliefs around people targeting him. Appreciating that the hospital has a duty to ensure that Mr. Fortin is safe and well, the hospital will be working with the long-term care residence staff to attempt to adapt these checks to avoid triggering the paranoia and delusional thoughts.
Dr. Strike stated that further to the most recent testing, it has been determined that Mr. Fortin’s neurocognitive disorder has slightly deteriorated in the past couple of years but that it is overall quite stable.
Finally, Dr. Strike confirmed that Mr. Fortin was readmitted to hospital on the February 28, 2025, from the Montfort Hospital and on August 15, 2025, he was transferred from the FAU to the FRU where he remains to this day.
No other evidence was presented.
Closing Submissions
- At the conclusion of the evidence the parties confirmed their joint position as stated at the outset of the hearing.
Conclusion and Disposition
Having considered all of the evidence tendered at the hearing, and the joint submission of the parties, the Board finds that Mr. Fortin continues to pose a significant threat to the safety of the public as set out in s 672.5401 of the Criminal Code of Canada, and as further defined by the Supreme Court of Canada in Winko v. British Columbia (Forensic Psychiatric Institute), 1999 CanLII 694 (SCC), [1999] 2 S.C.R. 625.
According to R. v. Winko, a significant threat to the safety of the public means a real risk of physical or psychological harm to members of the public that is serious in the sense of going beyond the merely trivial or annoying. The conduct giving rise to the harm must be criminal in nature.
Our finding that Mr. Fortin continues to meet the threshold of significant threat to the safety of the public is based on the evidence of his severe and fluctuating delusional disorder which caused him to take the life of an innocent victim, whom he had incorporated into his delusions that he was being followed by “the gang”. His actions were unprovoked, sudden and lethal. Since being under an ORB disposition, Mr. Fortin has had further delusions about people in his immediate surroundings being part of “the gang”, and this has further complicated his placement in a long-term care (“LTC”) facility.
Mr. Fortin also suffers from a neurocognitive disorder. According to recent testing, the disorder is stable, with a slight deterioration, but expected to continue to decline over time.
The hospital continues to attempt to secure a new LTC placement, with safeguards in place to attempt to prevent further delusions from developing regarding other individuals or staff in the residence. For this, the hospital requires the ability to approve accommodation. It will be important to put in place all possible safeguards to support the next placement and to protect others. The hospital appears to be looking into this carefully and responsibly.
Lastly, we note that Mr. Fortin continues to benefit from the support of his spouse, his sister and other family members, as he awaits his next placement in LTC in the community.
Having considered the factors at s. 672.54, namely the protection of the public, which is the paramount consideration, the mental condition of the accused, the reintegration of the accused into society and his other needs, the Board finds the maintenance of the detention order, on the same terms and conditions is the necessary and appropriate and least onerous and least restrictive disposition in all of the circumstances.
DATED this 18th day of March 2026, at the City of Toronto, in the Toronto Region.
Ms. M. Labrosse
Alternate Chairperson
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Office of the Registrar
Ontario Review Board