Re: Slim Tagoug
ORB File No: 8257
Hearing held on: Tuesday, March 24, 2026
Place of hearing: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
Pursuant to: Section 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code
Before:
Alternate Chairperson: Ms. L. Banks
Members: Dr. S. Lessard Dr. J. Cheston Ms. A. La Viola Mr. J. Cyr
Parties Appearing:
Accused: Slim Tagoug Counsel: Ms. C. Currie
The person in charge of hospital: Counsel: Ms. G. Meaney
Attorney General of Ontario: Counsel: Ms. J. Graham
REASONS FOR DISPOSITION
(Dated April 15, 2026)
Introduction:
On March 10, 2023, Mr. Tagoug was found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder (“NCR”) on one count of assault causing bodily harm, contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada (“Criminal Code”).
Mr. Tagoug is currently subject to a Disposition of the Ontario Review Board (“ORB” or the “Board”) dated April 15, 2025, detaining him within the Forensic Service of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (“CAMH” or the “hospital”) with discretionary privileges up to and including the ability to live in the community in accommodation approved by the person in charge of the hospital (“PIC”). His Disposition also requires that he refrain from contact or communication, direct or indirect, with Mary Lou Jorgensen-Bacher.
On March 24, 2026, a panel of the Board convened to conduct an annual review of Mr. Tagoug’s existing Disposition pursuant to s.672.81(1) of the Criminal Code. Mr. Tagoug was present at the hearing with his counsel, Ms. C. Currie.
The issues to be determined at the hearing were whether Mr. Tagoug continues to represent a significant threat to the safety of the public as defined in section 672.5401 of the Criminal Code and, if so, what is the necessary and appropriate Disposition, which is also the least onerous and least restrictive taking into account the factors set out in section
672.54 of the Criminal Code.
- For the reasons set out below, this Board finds that Mr. Tagoug continues to represent a significant threat to the safety of the public and that the least onerous and least restrictive Disposition that is both necessary and appropriate in the circumstances is that he be detained within the Forensic Service at CAMH on the terms of his existing Disposition save for an expansion in his community living privilege to allow Mr. Tagoug to live in the community of the Greater Toronto Area (“GTA”) in accommodation approved by the PIC.
Positions of the Parties:
At the commencement of the hearing, the parties were requested to provide their initial without prejudice positions with respect to the issues before the Board. Counsel for the hospital submitted that Mr. Tagoug continued to constitute a significant threat to the safety of the public and that the necessary and appropriate Disposition was a continuation of his current Detention Order with an expansion in his community living privilege to allow Mr. Tagoug to live in the GTA in accommodation approved by the PIC.
Counsel for the Attorney General agreed with the hospital's position.
Counsel for Mr. Tagoug indicated that her client was supportive of the hospital’s Disposition recommendation and conceded the issue of significant threat.
All parties maintained their joint recommendation to the Board in closing submissions.
Index Offence:
- The particulars of the index offence are extracted from last year’s ORB Reasons for Disposition, as follows:
“The offence relates to December 2 of 2021 at about 6:405 PM. The accused and the victim [J,-B] we’re both on the northbound platform of the Wellesley subway station in the City of Toronto and they were strangers to each other at the time.
The victim noticed that the accused’s jacket had the number 1967 printed on it and wanted to explain the significance of that year and how Canada became its own country. She tapped the accused’s shoulder to elicit a conversation, and the accused immediately turned around and became extremely confrontational with her. He pushed her to the ground, and as she attempted to get back up, he kicked her across the head, face, and body multiple times.
Several witnesses intervened, contacted Police, and assisted the victim. The accused fled the area on a northbound train. The victim was transported to St. Michael’s hospital trauma room where she underwent several CT scans based on concerns for internal brain bleed. She was particularly concerned over this given that she had suffered such an injury in the past.
The injury suffered by the victim were swelling to the right side of the fore head, swelling and bruising to the right side of the face, including the temple area, swelling and bruising to the right side top of the head near the crown, cut to the right ear lobe. She was also hospitalized for four days for a subdural haematoma that she suffered as a result of the attack.”
Personal Background:
The Hospital Report dated March 2, 2026 (the “Hospital Report”) outlines Mr. Tagoug’s history and background and need not be repeated here in detail. In brief, Mr. Tagoug is a 35-year-old, single male, with no children. He was born in Montreal, and both his parents are now deceased. Records indicate that Mr. Tagoug’s father reported that his son began to develop symptoms of mental illness in grade 11 but that his problems appeared to resolve after he returned to Tunisia from Toronto sometime between September 2009 and April 2010, likely as a result of the fact that he was no longer engaging in cannabis use.
Prior to his arrest, Mr. Tagoug was living between Montreal and Toronto and did not have a fixed address. He had been homeless since he returned to Canada from Tunisia in 2018. He had no income and went to food banks for food.
Legal History:
Mr. Tagoug’s Canadian Police Information Centre check identifies multiple convictions from Montreal that dated back to 2012 largely related to assaults, acquisitive offending, and failures to comply. In March 2012, Mr. Tagoug was convicted with several counts of fail to comply with undertaking, fail to comply, and theft.
In March 2013, he was convicted of assault and theft under $5000 in Toronto. In February 2019, he was convicted of fail to comply with undertaking x2, theft under $5000, and mischief, in Laval, Quebec.
In May 2019, he was convicted of assault in Montreal. In October 2019, he was convicted of fail to comply with probation x2 in Montreal. In March 2021, he was convicted of assault cause bodily harm and assault in Brampton, Ontario. In April 2021, he was convicted of robbery and assault x3 in Toronto. The victims of this offence (a married couple) were strangers to Mr. Tagoug. The female victim witnessed Mr. Tagoug grabbing a young boy's jaw. The caregiver of the young boy had asked him several times to let go. The female victim intervened to protect the young boy. Mr. Tagoug threw her to the ground, pulled her hair, and she suffered injuries including face swelling for six days. The male victim was also injured, including a fractured right foot requiring a cast for 6 weeks and physiotherapy. Both victims feared for their safety.
Mr. Tagoug was charged with the index offence in December 2021 and was admitted to Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences for an assessment of criminal responsibility in December 2022. He was found NCR in March 2023. On May 9, 2023, Mr. Tagoug was admitted to CAMH under a Warrant of Committal. He was transferred to LGUA, a general forensic unit, in September 2023.
On December 7, 2023, he absconded while on an accompanied pass to the community. He was located by police on December 24, 2023, and remanded to the Toronto South Detention Centre (“TSDC”). He remained at TSDC until his return to CAMH on January 3, 2024. Prior to his release from custody, the court revoked his community privileges. Mr. Tagoug remained on the Assessment and Triage unit at CAMH until his transfer to LGUB on March 4, 2024.
Psychiatric History:
Mr. Tagoug has a history of contact with psychiatric hospitals which is highlighted in the Hospital Report on pages 5-6.
Mr. Tagoug’s current diagnoses are:
Schizoaffective Disorder;
Cannabis Use Disorder; and
Possible Antisocial Personality Disorder.
Evidence at the Hearing:
Dr. O’Sullivan, who is Mr. Tagoug’s attending psychiatrist, testified at the hearing to supplement the documentary evidence forming the Record and Exhibits, including the Hospital Report. The doctor advised that he has been involved in Mr. Tagoug’s care since December 2024. Dr. O’Sullivan reported that there were no material updates to the Hospital Report.
Mr. Tagoug remains incapable of consenting to treatment and the Public Guardian and Trustee acts as his substitute decision maker (“SDM”). Under his SDM’s consent, he receives treatment with the long-acting injection (“LAI”) of Invega Trinza every three months. Mr. Tagoug passively accepts his medications and there have been no issues with medication adherence. At present, his medications are considered optimized, and his psychotic symptoms have remained in remission, and he has not presented with symptoms of his schizoaffective disorder (e.g., hypomania, mania, depression or psychosis), nor did he relapse into substance use. Although he does not present with thought disorder, the doctor noted that Mr. Tagoug suffers from negative symptoms of his illness, including amotivation, apathy, impoverished thinking, and some cognitive rigidity. The doctor commented that he has not suffered any significant relapse over the year in review.
In terms of Mr. Tagoug’s insight, Dr. O’Sullivan generally described it as “limited”; however, Mr. Tagoug has acknowledged that he has some mental health challenges, but he has attributed these challenges to his historical use of cannabis. Mr. Tagoug does not want to delay his discharge to the community due to his substance use and the doctor commented that for this reason, Mr. Tagoug is primarily externally motivated. He acknowledges that medications have helped attenuate the “voices” but he has also advised that he plans to stop taking his LAI when he receives an Absolute Discharge and Dr. O’Sullivan testified that this remains a real concern. Mr. Tagoug does not appreciate the risk associated with discontinuing his LAI treatment. In this regard, the doctor commented that Mr. Tagoug’s insight is quite superficial.
He has remained externally motivated to abstain from cannabis use as he wishes to progress through the forensic system and he is aware that his Disposition prohibits substance use. He did not test positive for any substances and was tested regularly over the past reporting year.
Mr. Tagoug has not presented as a management challenge, and he has not required any periods of restraint and seclusion, nor has he been the subject of any code whites. There were intermittent occasions where he was warned about his smoking on outings contrary to the hospital rules, and he accepted the re-direction.
Over the past reporting year, Mr. Tagoug has progressed to using indirectly supervised community passes. His pass use has been unremarkable but for an incident in July 2025, when a spot check on his attendance at his scheduled swimming sessions at the Trinity Bellwoods Recreation Centre revealed he had not attended as planned on his pass. When confronted, he acknowledged that he had not attended for his swimming class. There were suspicions that this occurred on other occasions, as well. In response, his indirectly supervised passes were suspended for some time, but the doctor commented that his passes have since been reinstated without further issue.
Mr. Tagoug has been volunteering at the Trinity Square Café since August 2025 on a weekly basis. He has also attended weekly sessions at Our Place (a community-based resource centre for people with mental health challenges). As well, since November 2025, he works three shifts per week on the unit as a canteen operator. The doctor stated that Mr. Tagoug has responded well to the team’s encouragement to engage in structured activities.
In terms of therapeutic programming, Mr. Tagoug has attended mental health programming extensively in the Treatment Neighbourhood (“TN”): CBT Our Choice (x29 sessions) and CBT Stress & Coping (x26 sessions). Dr. O’Sullivan stated that Mr. Tagoug typically engages in a rather “passive manner” and it is clear that he struggles to connect the content of the sessions to his own life. He does, however, actively engage in cooking classes and enjoys same.
He has also attended some substance-related programming, including substance relapse prevention groups on approximately seven occasions. He acknowledged thinking about using cannabis but decided not to. He has some internal motivation to abstain, but external motivators also drive him to abstain while he remains under the ORB. Again, his engagement in substance-related programming was described as “limited” by Dr. O’Sullivan; however, he is able to draw a connection between his behaviour at the time of the index offences and his past substance use.
Mr. Tagoug’s self-care continues to be somewhat of an issue, and he will be encouraged to collaborate with the behavioural therapist and OT to develop a self-care schedule and/or participate in cognitive adaptation training.
Overall, Dr. O’Sullivan endorsed the recommendation outlined in the Hospital Report that Mr. Tagoug should be encouraged to add structure to his days, either by pursuing employment, volunteering or furthering his education. Given his concrete cognition and strongly externally motivated stance to therapeutic interventions, behavioural interventions with access to clear, achievable incremental goals, would likely assist in his ongoing engagement and rule adherence.
In terms of his eventual transition to community living, Mr. Tagoug completed an occupational therapy functional assessment regarding independent living in August 2025. He scored in the low functioning range. The Hospital Report indicates that his performance reflected global difficulties with instrumental activities of daily living (such as managing money, home maintenance, health and safety awareness, and problem solving). It was decided that Mr. Tagoug would benefit from a staff supportive housing environment with access to on-site staff to assist with IADLs, safety monitoring, and medication management. Dr. O’Sullivan commented that he likely requires 24/7 on-site staff support on his initial transition to community living.
Dr. O’Sullivan stated that Mr. Tagoug has continued to be an in-patient on the Forensic General Unit D. The team is actively searching for a suitable supportive accommodation placement for Mr. Tagoug. He has been designated alternate level of care (“ALC”), indicative of his readiness for discharge to the community. Applications to two housing providers (TRHP2 and 96 Dowling Ave.) were recently unsuccessful. TRHP2 expressed their concern that Mr. Tagoug was “too low functioning” for a placement there. The social worker is in the process of re-applying to this housing provider as it is the team’s belief that Mr. Tagoug would be likely to succeed in this environment. In Dr. O’Sullivan’s opinion, an expansion of the housing placement to the “GTA” will simply provide the team with additional housing opportunities for Mr. Tagoug.
In response to questions raised by Ms. Currie, Dr. O’Sullivan stated that he does not think that Developmental Services Ontario housing would be available to Mr. Tagoug as he does not have a formal diagnosis of Intellectual Disability. In the doctor’s opinion, Mr. Tagoug’s cognitive deficits are likely related to his major mental illness.
Mr. Tagoug has remained in contact with his siblings via the phone and they are important social supports for him.
Dr. O’Sullivan endorsed the findings of the Risk Assessment contained in the Hospital Report which state that:
“Overall, Mr. Tagoug was assessed as having a Moderate level of protective factors. Overall, given Mr. Tagoug’s risk and protective factors, his risk of any future violence would be Low-Moderate while subject to a detention order with privileges including community living.
Mr. Tagoug currently benefits from a high level of support and supervision in hospital in preparation for a transition to supportive accommodation. Conversely, absent a detention order and its associated abilities to proactively return and detain Mr. Tagoug in hospital (e.g., in the context of absconding) and compel medication adherence, his risk of any future violence would be elevated to High.”
Dr. O’Sullivan agreed that Mr. Tagoug continues to represent a significant threat to the safety of the public, and that his existing Detention Order Disposition with privileges up to community living remains both necessary and appropriate for risk management purposes. The expansion of the geographical area of his community living privilege was to afford the treatment team a greater range of supportive housing options in order to facilitate his transition to community living.
In Dr. O’Sullivan’s assessment, a Detention Order remains critical for two key critical risk management reasons. First, the hospital requires the ability to approve Mr. Tagoug’s residential placement in the community to ensure that he is placed in supportive housing that closely monitors him in order to sufficiently manage his risk to the public. Further, once in the community, it will be critical that the hospital have the ability to expeditiously readmit Mr. Tagoug in the event that he suffers a decompensation in his mental status. In the doctor’s assessment, a Conditional Discharge Disposition would be pre-mature at this juncture.
No further evidence was called by the parties.
Analysis and Conclusions:
- The Board has no difficulty in agreeing with the recommendation of the parties that the significant threat threshold is met in this case. Mr. Tagoug suffers from Schizoaffective Disorder. The Hospital Report indicates that:
“Acute phase symptoms have included behavioral disturbance (aggression and violence), affective disturbance (mania), and psychosis (delusions, auditory hallucinations).
His index offence involved an unprovoked assault of a female TTC passenger causing bodily harm. He was acutely psychotic on arrest and likely had an untreated psychosis for an extended period in the lead-up to the index offence.
His condition has shown treatment-responsiveness. He currently presents as euthymic in mood and in remission in terms of positive psychotic symptoms. He has, however, residual negative symptoms (e.g., poor self-care, amotivation, impoverished thinking) and impaired insight.”
Mr. Tagoug also has a well-established longstanding history of heavy, regular cannabis use to the detriment of his mental state. He should be commended for his abstinence over the past reporting year.
Finally, the Board is cognizant that Mr. Tagoug has a significant criminal history which includes multiple charges of assaultive behaviour. He has demonstrated his capacity for violence, aggression, and a lack of regard for the wellbeing of others, all of which are consistent with antisocial personality traits.
In consideration of all of the above-noted risk factors and the joint position of the parties in this regard, the Board concludes that Mr. Tagoug continues to represent a significant threat to the safety of the public at this juncture.
Having reached the conclusion that Mr. Tagoug continues to represent a significant threat to the safety of the public, the Board directed its attention to crafting the least onerous and least restrictive Disposition.
The Board considered whether Mr. Tagoug could be granted a less restrictive Conditional Discharge Disposition but determined that such a Disposition had no air of reality at this juncture and would be inappropriate to safely manage his risk. Mr. Tagoug continues to require the authority of a Detention Order Disposition for two critical risk management reasons. Firstly, the hospital requires ongoing oversight with respect to his placement in the community to ensure that any prospective community residence provides him with high-supports, structure, supervision, and close monitoring. Further, when living in the community, the hospital will require the authority of a Detention Order to expeditiously and at an early juncture readmit Mr. Tagoug to the hospital should he suffer a decompensation in his mental status as a result of breakthrough symptoms, medication noncompliance, substance use, or for any reason whatsoever.
Accordingly, the Board finds that the necessary and appropriate Disposition is a continuation of Mr. Tagoug’s current Detention Order save for an expansion in his community living privilege to allow Mr. Tagoug to live in the community of the GTA in accommodation approved by the PIC of the hospital.
In reaching our decision, this Board has taken into consideration the need to protect the public from dangerous persons, the mental condition of Mr. Tagoug, his reintegration into society, and his other needs.
DATED this 15th day of April, 2026, at the City of Toronto, in the Toronto Region.
Ms. L. Banks Alternate Chairperson
Office of the Registrar Ontario Review Board