The spouse of a man who committed suicide with a weapon accessible to his work claims $ 1.5 million from the Canada Border Services Agency (ASFC), who, he said, has shown “gross negligence”.
What to know
In November 2023, an employee of the Canada Border Services Agency (ASFC) died with a weapon when he was assigned to administrative tasks.
His spouse demands 1.5 million from the ASFC because of the “deep psychological suffering” which he endures and for the financial damage he undergoes.
According to the pursuit, the ASFC is “negligent” in monitoring the mental health of its employees and the supervision of its firearms.
Glenn Cleary-Fortin killed himself on November 13, 2023 in the arms room of his workplace, a public holiday when he was not in service.
According to the prosecution filed in the superior court this week, the 59 -year -old man, who had previously suffered from an anxiety adaptation disorder, presented his retirement signs of distress, “avoiding the subject or suddenly reacting to his mention”. He had been at ASFC for 35 years.
With a doctor’s paper, Glenn Cleary-Fortin met his superior a few days before taking action. “Despite this alarming portrait, and while Mr. Cleary-Fortin was assigned to administrative tasks rather than operational, his firearm has never been removed from him and he was able to have free access to it,” alleges the prosecution.
Photo provided by Germain Boily
Glenn Cleary-Fortin
This “tragic” death could have been avoided if the Canada Border Services Agency had followed its own directives, now believes Germain Boily, the spouse of Mr. Cleary-Fortin.
ASFC’s rules “explicitly provide that an employee’s firearm must be removed when the latter has signs of emotional instability that can negatively influence his ability to own, carry or use defense equipment,” reads the judicial document.
The pursuit also alleges that “this tragedy is not unusual within the ASFC and is part of a sad series of at least five suicides since 2011, which took place according to the constant negligence of the ASFC in the supervision of access to firearms and the monitoring of the mental health of the employees who have access to it”.
In November 2024, an employee of the Windsor border services committed suicide at his workplace. The Alliance of the Public Service of Canada then published a press release in which it was written that these deaths “underline the need for an adequate support structure in matters of mental health as well as the importance of eliminating obstacles to access to these services”.
The Sûreté du Québec as an example
In the Coroner report, following the suicide of Glenn Cleary-Fortin, it is written that “the investigation raises questions as to the effectiveness of the measures put in place for the psychological support of employees and the control of the preposte of firearms at the Border Services Agency of Canada”.
The Coroner Jean Blais gives the example of the Sûreté du Québec, which has set up programs aimed at helping its police officers, bringing them assistance and supporting them.
He notably recommends that the Canada Border Services Agency to improve services to people who suffer from anxiety and limit access to firearms to his employees at the periods when they are in service.
Germain Boily did not wish to grant an interview to The pressbut through his lawyer, Me Érika Normand-Couture, he writes that he regrets “that the ASFC neglected the previous recommendations in similar situations” which could have prevented the death of his spouse “and other colleagues who have also removed life in the past”.
Mr. Boily was the de facto spouse of Mr. Cleary-Fortin for more than 20 years and since then, he “endures a deep psychological suffering arising from the brutal death of his partner, which occurred in the circumstances of extreme emotional violence”, indicates the prosecution.
His goal, he says, is “that such a drama will not happen again”.
