TORONTO - Ontario's Liberal government failed to protect the public from a paranoid schizophrenic who shot and killed Ottawa sportscaster Brian Smith in 1995 and has been arrested again, the Progressive Conservatives charged Thursday.
Jeffrey Arenburg, who was found not criminally responsible for shooting Brian Smith, was given an absolute discharge with no restrictions from a mental health hospital last year by the Ontario Review Board.
Arenburg was arrested last week after a U.S. border guard in Buffalo, N.Y., was punched in the face.
"This has justifiably set off alarm bells, especially in the Ottawa area,'' said Opposition Leader Bob Runciman.
"Arenburg is going to come back into Ontario and it looks like all we can do is cross our fingers and hope he doesn't reoffend.''
But Attorney General Chris Bentley said Runciman should take his concerns up with his Conservative cousins in Ottawa because the federal government is responsible for the makeup of the Ontario Review Board, which he said gave Arenburg the absolute discharge over the objections of the provincial Crown attorney.
"When the individual came before the review board for the hearing, the Crown attorney took the position that he objected, that the Crown objected to an absolute discharge,'' Bentley told the legislature. "The independent tribunal made a different decision.
"His objection is to the minister of justice. You know where he is. You should contact him and ask for amendments to the Criminal Code.''
Runciman insisted it is the province -- not Ottawa -- that makes appointments to the Ontario Review Board, and said he wasn't happy with Bentley's response or his attempt to dump the issue at the feet of the federal government.
"I think he was trying to wash his hands of a situation that I think could be a potentially serious risk to public safety,'' Runciman said.
"I think they're being terribly irresponsible, blaming it on the federal government when the reality is they have the tools to do something about it.''
Runciman said the province should change the Mental Health Act so it can address public safety concerns in cases like Arenburg's without infringing on individual rights.
"If the current legislation doesn't allow them to enact a Community Treatment Order, amend the legislation to fill any gap between an absolute discharge and the ability of the province to play a role here in protecting public safety,'' he said.
Arenburg, 50, used a .22-calibre rifle to kill Smith, a former NHL player who became a sportscaster for CJOH-TV.
