In 2000, expanded civil commitment criteria and provision for Community Treatment Orders were added to the Mental Health Act in Ontario following the inquest into the death of Brian Smith (“Brian’s Law”).  Mr. Smith was a well-known Ottawa broadcaster who was shot and killed in 1995 by a patient suffering from schizophrenia.  Although a constitutional challenge to the legislative changes was dismissed in September 2013, the case may be appealed and raises significant legal, constitutional and public policy issues that merit further discussion and debate.  With an expert panel including some of the very litigators involved in this ground-breaking case, this program will offer a primer on the civil commitment process under the Mental Health Act, as well as focus specifically on the legal, constitutional and public policy issues raised in the Thompson case.

PROGRAM CHAIR

Valerie Wise, Wise Health Law

SPEAKERS

Lonny Rosen, Rosen Sunshine LLP
Mercedes Perez, Swadron Associates