Re: Peter Huk, 2026 CanLII 45695

Ontario Review Board

Re: Peter Huk

ORB File No: 1579

Hearing held on: Friday, May 1, 2026

Place of hearing: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

Pursuant to: Section 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code

Before:

Alternate Chairperson: Mr. J. Goldenberg

Members: Dr. P. Prendergast Dr. M. Mamak Ms. J. Ferguson Mr. T. Wall

Parties Appearing:

Accused: Peter Huk Counsel: Ms. C. Whillier

The person in charge of Hospital: Counsel: Ms. G. Meaney, student-at-law

Attorney General of Ontario: Counsel: Mr. M. Feindel

REASONS FOR DISPOSITION

(Dated May 11, 2026)

Introduction

1. On January 18, 1993, Peter Huk was found not criminally responsible (“NCR”) on a charge of arson, contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada. He is currently subject to a Decision and Disposition dated May 7, 2025. The Board therein held that the restriction of liberty had been warranted. The Disposition put in place was detention at the Forensic Service of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (“CAMH”) with privileges up to and including to live in the community in 24 hour a day supervised accommodation approved by the person in charge.

2. On May 1, 2026, a panel of the Ontario Review Board met in person at the hospital for the annual review of Mr. Huk’s disposition of May 7, 2025, which was also a decision of the Board with respect to an ROL.

3. Mr. Huk was present at the hearing and was represented by his counsel, Ms. Whillier.

4. Ms. G. Meaney, student-at-law, represented the hospital and Mr. Feindel represented the Crown Attorney.

5. The evidence at the hearing was comprised of the hospital report dated April 16, 2026 (exhibit 1) and the expert testimony of Dr. Swayze.

6. At the outset of the hearing the parties were canvassed as to their initial positions. Ms. Meaney indicated the hospital’s position that the current disposition should continue unchanged. Mr. Feindel, on behalf of the Crown, indicated that he expected to agree with the hospital’s position but that he had a few questions. Ms. Whillier, on behalf of Mr. Huk, indicated that she did not contest the issue of significant threat and agreed to the terms of the detention order that were put forward by the hospital.

Index Offence

7. The details of the index offence are taken from last year’s Reasons for Decision and Disposition, as follows:

“On October 14, 1992, Mr. Huk attended a Subway sandwich store and asked for a coffee. He left the store, picked up a bag of garbage outside the store and placed it behind the owner’s car. He collected three other bags of garbage and set them with the first bag. He then set the bags on fire and left the scene. The owner and the police put out the fire. There was minor damage to the paint on the car. Mr. Huk proceeded to the north end of the same building and started another fire with garbage, which he also left. When Mr. Huk was arrested, he had soot on his hands and socks, his shoes had a burn mark, and his left thumb was burned.

According to his later accounts, Mr. Huk “practically forced” his girlfriend Jeannie to accompany him to Toronto on October 7, 1992. He thought he could do business with Much Music, and also thought he could visit his brother Jan. He was upset when Much Music told him to return in four days. Jeannie returned to LPH on October 8. Mr. Huk presented himself to QSMHC on October 9, where he was given a two-day supply of medication, and bus tickets so that he could attend the Family Benefits office. He could not find the office, and wandered the streets.”

Background

8. Mr. Huk was born in Czechoslovakia on April 17, 1944, and is presently 82 years of age. He immigrated to Canada in 1969. He has had no contact with his family for many years. after his brother had requested no contact as Mr. Huk had threatened him with assault and assaulted his (brother’s) wife. Mr. Huk was involved in a romantic relationship in the late 80s into the early 90s which was conflicted and included violence. It is reported that Mr. Huk began to show symptoms of a mental illness when he was 17 years of age. He was hospitalized in Czechoslovakia. His first Canadian hospital admission was in 1974. He deteriorated after a period of about five years at which time he was using LSD, alcohol and cannabis. He suffered from delusions and hallucinations.

9. After being found NCR, Mr. Huk was detained at London Psychiatric Hospital for a number of years. He initially resisted treatment with medication and was verbally and physically aggressive during that time. In 1995 substitute consent was obtained from the Public Guardian and Trustee (“PGT”) and Mr. Huk was treated, but remained psychotic. He was suspected of setting two fires in the hospital in 1995 and did set another before he was transferred to St. Thomas Psychiatric Hospital in 1998. In 1998 he started a fire in that hospital. After transfer to the maximum secure unit in Penetanguishene in 2001, he experienced a seizure-like episode and assaulted a doctor at the Huronia District Hospital after he suggested that Mr. Huk might be malingering. Mr. Huk received treatment and improved in 2001 but continued to harbour numerous bizarre concepts. In 2005, Mr. Huk was transferred to CAMH. In 2008 an increase in aggression resulted in his transfer to SOTU. He continued to deteriorate. He had episodes of collapsing, as he had in the past. He began to refuse all oral medication and to defecate in his room smearing feces on his walls. In 2008 he was transferred to a medium secure unit,

10. In 2010 he began to improve but in 2012 was involved in two altercations. Thereafter his improvement continued, and he was transferred to a general forensic unit in July 2013.

11. In May 2019 M. Huk was discharged to a 24-hour supportive housing complex for seniors but readmitted in November after non-compliance with his blood pressure medication, throwing out his belongings, not dressing appropriately for the weather and ultimately punching the housing manager when she tried to take away his cigarette lighter after he smoked inside the residence.

12. Mr. Huk was next discharged to John Gibson House, 24-hour supervised community housing, in December 2021. Multiple readmissions to CAMH were required, including 3 in the treatment year 2023-2024 (as well as one medical admission that year). Mr. Huk was discharged back to John Gibson House on February 4, 2025, but his behaviour quickly deteriorated again, he began smoking indoors daily despite repeated redirection by staff, he refused hygiene care and became increasingly aggressive and was involved in numerous incidents. Staff at John Gibson house reported Mr. Huk had become incontinent and expressed increasing concerns about his cognitive functioning. Mr. Huk was re-admitted to the emergency department of CAMH on February 27, 2025, and was transferred to the Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (“PICU”) on March 5, 2025. During this admission, signs of cognitive and geriatric syndromes became more prominent, he exhibited sundowning, evening confusion, and developed swallowing difficulties, prompting greater intervention and specialist consultations. Mr. Huk has been unable to return to John Gibson House as a result of his need for care in excess of that available at that housing provider. On March 25, 2026, Mr. Huk was transferred to an inpatient forensic bed for ongoing assessment and care.

13. Mr. Huk is incapable to consent to psychiatric treatment as well to managing his financial affairs. The Office of the PGT provides substitute consent and management of his funds.

Diagnoses

14. Unspecified Neurocognitive Disorder;

Schizophrenia;

Other Specified Personality Disorder with Antisocial, Narcissistic and Dependent Traits; Tobacco Use Disorder, severe.

The Hospital Report

15. The Hospital Report dated Aprill 16, 2026, was entered in evidence. A summary of Mr. Huk’s reporting year is as follows:

General Summary

Mr. Huk had a difficult clinical year; similar to others. He remains on Forensic General Unit D (FGUD, Unit 1-5) under the care of Dr. Ian G. Swayze, his present attending psychiatrist.

Mr. Huk has been a fluctuating behavioural and management difficulty over the past year. He has engaged in ongoing episodic verbal aggression, sexually disinhibited behaviours and profanity amongst others. He has not engaged in frank physical or sexual violence but he has attempted to strike staff and does touch staff without consent. He has not attempted to abscond from hospital (ULOA; Unauthorized Leave of Absence). He has not required periods in locked seclusion or chemical/physical restraints.

Mental Health, Treatment, Insight

Mr. Huk’s affect is extremely and unpredictably labile, ranging from bright and animated—at times joking with staff and displaying sudden moments of warmth or gregariousness—to verbally hostile, especially when he feels misunderstood, restricted, or when his requests are denied. These outbursts are typically loud, occasionally profane, and can be directed at both peers and staff. He exhibits paranoia, particularly during later hours or during changes in staffing routines, believing others are "out to get him" or plotting against him.

Mr. Huk continues to exhibit chronic grandiose delusions, including the belief that he is a prominent historical or musical figure, or that he holds ownership over the facility or surrounding buildings. These beliefs appear entrenched and are not typically amenable to redirection. He also endorses intermittent paranoid ideation, such as concerns that medications are being tampered with or that individuals in the environment pose a threat. These delusions appear more pronounced in the late afternoon and evening.

Mr. Huk’s thought process is frequently disorganized, with tangential or circumstantial speech and occasional word-finding difficulty. He exhibits significant cognitive decline, including impaired short-term memory, poor orientation to time and place (especially in the evenings), and reduced ability to follow multi-step instructions.

To treat Mr. Huk’s psychiatric illness, schizophrenia, he continues on the long acting injectable antipsychotic paliperidone at 525 mg IM every 12 weeks and the oral antipsychotic quetiapine at 125 mg in the evening. He receives the antidepressant sertraline at 100 mg daily to address impulsivity.

Mr. Huk is regarded as not capable to consent to his treatments; consent provided by the Public Guardian and Trustee. He passively accepts his medications under direct staff observation; to his credit while believing his treatments were not necessary nor beneficial he has generally been compliant and not attempted avoidance when administered.

There was no change in Mr. Huk’s understanding of his psychiatric illnesses, the index offence for which he was found Not Criminally Responsible or episodes of aggression while unwell. His insight remains essentially nonexistent.

Unfortunately, when canvassed, Mr. Huk remains of the opinion that modest use of alcohol or other psychoactive substances would not have an impact on his mental state or risk of violence.

Substances

Mr. Huk did not test positive by urinalyses for any substances of abuse. He did not engage in drug seeking behaviours, but did state his wish/intent to access substances if given the opportunity. He did not attend relapse prevention programming as the nature of his mental health difficulties would preclude any meaningful engagement.

Physical Health/Activities

Mr. Huk is seen as required by the unit hospitalist. He is being treated for chronic pain, hypertension (high blood pressure), atrial fibrillation, hypercholesterolemia (high cholesterol), type II diabetes and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder.

To treat these conditions, Mr. Huk receives the following medications:

• Acetaminophen (Tylenol – analgesic medication) 325 mg twice daily

• Amlodipine (blood pressure medication) 5 mg by mouth daily

• Rivaroxaban (blood thinner) 20 mg by mouth daily

• Rosuvastatin (cholesterol medication) 20 mg by mouth nightly

• Metformin (diabetes medication) 500 mg by mouth daily

Mr. Huk requires assistance with most of his activities of daily living. He requires assistance with transfers. He is frequently incontinent of urine and feces. He has been designated “DNR 3” status; no CPR or defibrillation.

Incidents of Concern

While Mr. Huk has not had any serious incidents of concern (requiring periods in locked seclusion or chemical/physical restraints) and has not engaged in frank physical or sexual violence, he has ongoing episodic verbal aggression, sexually disinhibited behaviours and profanity amongst others. He has frequent racist, sexist, homophobic and xenophobic outbursts. He has struck out at staff. Mr. Huk’s sexualized behaviours include sexual comments and touching or attempting to touch staff without consent.

Mr. Huk can be agitated and intrusive, particularly around access to food or cigarettes and when he perceives his needs are unmet. His judgment is markedly impaired, and he is prone to impulsive verbal outbursts and occasional resistance to care, especially when routine is disrupted. However, he can be intermittently cooperative, particularly with familiar staff who use calm, validating, and consistent approaches.

Passes and Privileges

Mr. Huk’s privileges remained at “Level 1” over the year, and included staff escorted passes on hospital and grounds up to 30 minutes, twice daily. With the support of forensic administration, Mr. Huk is permitted to smoke cigarettes under staff supervision in the secure forensic yard during these passes. This has attenuated Mr. Huk’s aggressive outbursts and improved his engagement with care.

Social/Family Support

Mr. Huk has no peer group on the inpatient unit. When his mental status is stable, he interacts well with patients and staff. He is not involved in an intimate interpersonal (romantic) relationship. He has no contact with family.

Programming/Discharge Planning

The inpatient unit behavioural therapist developed a plan of care to address Mr. Huk’s problematic behaviours and advance his rehabilitation. This includes behavioural contingency plans using positive and negative reinforcers.

Mr. Huk, at times, avails himself of social and recreational activities offered on the inpatient unit. He has attended no formal risk management programs.

Discharge for Mr. Huk is problematic. His urge to smoke cigarettes has led to loss of housing as he will often smoke indoors or exhibit aggression when confronted smoking. As noted, forensic administration has approved passes during which Mr. Huk can smoke under staff supervision in the secure forensic yard. At the recommendation of addiction medicine, Mr. Huk was treated with varenicline (Champix) at 1 mg BID in hopes of reducing his craving for cigarettes and nicotine. Unfortunately, he did not tolerate the trial and it was discontinued. Recently, he was begun on bupropion (Zyban) at 150 mg daily, also in hopes of reducing his craving for cigarettes and nicotine. The Addictions Medicine specialist recommended 3 LTC (Long Term Care) homes that are enrolled in STOP program and have a fenced off smoking area to consider for client. The team is in the process of submitting applications to these residences.

Testimony of Dr. Swayze

16. Dr. Swayze has been Mr. Huk’s in-patient forensic psychiatrist for the past clinical year. He provided an overview of the past reporting year and testified that it was similar to the previous years, the only difference being that he wasn’t discharged back into the community after being re-admitted to CAMH as has occurred regularly over the past few years. Dr. Swayze gave evidence that Mr. Huk has been back in the hospital slightly over a year, having been re-admitted from the highest level of supportive housing available as a result of their inability to manage him there, and there is currently no prospect of moving him out of hospital.

17. Dr. Swayze testified that Mr. Huk remained in the general forensic unit for the past year as he was not able to return to John Gibson house as a result of the high level of care he requires, his smoking of cigarettes, his verbal and physical aggression, his declining personal care and hygiene and his infections and skin lesions. In addition, Mr. Huk suffers from incontinence and often soils his clothes. Mr. Huk is a heavy smoker and will go to great lengths to smoke. With the help of the hospital care team, he is accompanied outside twice a day to smoke cigarettes. Dr. Swayze opined that allowing Mr. Huk to smoke, which is an exception to the hospital’s rules, helps resolve some of his behavioural problems. Mr. Huk has had only minor incidents and no major incidents and no seclusion over the past year. Mr. Huk remains chronically psychotic, is behaviourally dis-controlled and has verbal outbursts. Dr. Swayze testified that these issues make it difficult for the community team to care for Mr. Huk given the extremely high level of care he requires, and he is currently being adequately treated. Dr. Swayze added that discharge for Mr. Huk would be very difficult.

18. Dr. Swayze testified that the treatment team has done a few trials with Mr. Huk with drugs to reduce his cravings for cigarettes. The team requested the assistance of the addiction medicine specialists at CAMH who made recommendations for the trial of medication that have some efficacy in some people and Mr. Huk was started on this medication. However, Mr. Huk suffered side effects including insomnia so that medication was discontinued. Mr. Huk has recently been started on an anti-depressant which has shown to reduce cravings, but it has not yet had an effect. The treatment team is also working to behaviourally change Mr. Huk’s attitude toward smoking and hope he will be able to transition to vaping, which is an activity allowed in the hospital.

19. Dr. Swayze gave evidence that Mr. Huk’s smoking makes discharge planning difficult, especially given that his index offence is arson and most operators of residences find these two issues concerning. The treatment team is looking for housing options in which he can smoke and is also trying to reduce his cravings to help with that search. No referrals have yet been made for community housing.

20. Dr. Swayze opined that Mr. Huk continues to pose a significant threat to the safety of the public given that, if left to his own devices, Mr. Huk would likely smoke a pack of cigarettes a day in his bed and the likelihood that this would cause a fire would be high. Dr. Swayze testified that Mr. Huk pays no attention to the consequences of his actions and that, if in an environment where the amount he can smoke is limited, he becomes aggressive. Further, if Mr. Huk is approached in a casual fashion, he will become aggressive and strike out. Dr. Swayze added that such behaviour has been limited by the staff understanding Mr. Huk’s behaviour, but that if Mr. Huk is in a common area with others, he will not hesitate to act aggressively.

21. In response to a question from Mr. Feindel about whether appropriate housing can be found for Mr. Hunk, Dr. Swayze reiterated that finding housing for Mr. Huk is proving problematic, that the addiction specialists consulted about Mr. Huk recommended three possible housing options which could accommodate his smoking, but the treatment team was attempting to reduce or eliminate his craving for cigarettes to make him a better applicant. If reduction of Mr. Huk’s cravings can not be accomplished, the team would also use a behavioural plan mimicking what Mr. Huk would experience in a residence in order for him to safely smoke. Dr. Swayze added that, at present, Mr. Huk is taken outside in a wheelchair and handed a cigarette by a staff member. This routine is not available in any of the three housing options recommended for Mr. Huk and if he can’t manage his smoking safely on his own, there is no available housing for him at this juncture.

22. In response to a question from Mr. Feindel as to whether Mr. Huk might be admitted to a geriatric unit, Dr. Swayze testified that this option had been investigated but the unit declined to accept Mr. Huk on the basis that they did not see that they could do anything for Mr. Huk that was different or in addition to the care he was already receiving.

23. In response to a question from Mr. Feindel about Mr. Huk’s history of physical and verbal aggression and whether he had engaged in such conduct in the past year, Dr. Swayze responded that he had attempted assault on staff members he is not familiar with, but that other patients have learned to give him a wide berth. Dr. Swayze added that Mr. Huk will frequently burst out in a tirade of vitriolic, homophobic, xenophobic, slanderous and otherwise offensive tirades and that the treatment team always approaches him in twos with staff he’s familiar with.

Submissions

24. The parties made a joint submission, with the hospital and Ms. Whillier maintaining their initial positions and Mr. Feindel, on behalf of the Attorney General, agreeing with them that the current disposition should continue unchanged.

Analysis and Conclusion

25. The Board recognizes that there is a joint position of the parties that Mr. Huk continues to represent a significant threat to the safety of the public. On the evidence before us and the uncontroverted evidence of Dr. Swayze, which we accept, the Board unanimously found that Mr. Huk meets the threshold for significant threat, as a result of his uncontrolled aggressive and assaultive behaviour toward others, coupled with his cognitive decline, and because of the threat caused by his smoking and his apparent failure to understand the consequences of careless smoking.

26. It is clear that the only option available for Mr. Huk that provides for his increasingly complex needs and eliminates the significant threat to the public that Mr. Huk represents, is a detention order. The Board is cognizant of the challenges that the care of Mr. Huk entails and commends the hospital staff for their efforts to ensure that Mr. Huk’s considerable needs are met and to offer him the highest quality of life possible in the face of his limitations, both mental and physical.

27. The Board is unanimous in finding that the most appropriate, least onerous disposition for Mr. Huk is a detention order on the same terms and conditions as are currently in place.

28. We make this disposition in consideration of the protection of public safety, Mr. Huk’s mental condition, his reintegration into the community and his other needs.

DATED this 11^th^ day of May, 2026, at the City of Toronto, in the Toronto Region.

Ms. J. Ferguson

Legal Member

__________________

Office of the Registrar

Ontario Review Board