Ontario Homeowner Charged with Assaulting an Armed Intruder

A case in Lindsay, Ontario, has sparked a heated discussion about crime, personal safety and the limits of self-defence in Canada. In the early hours of August 18, police were called to an apartment on Kent Street after 44-year-old resident Jeremy David McDonald reportedly woke to find an intruder inside his home. An altercation followed, and the alleged intruder, 41-year-old Michael Kyle Breen, suffered life-threatening injuries and was airlifted to a Toronto hospital.

Court documents say McDonald is charged with aggravated assault and assault with a weapon and allege that he used a knife during the confrontation. Breen, whom police said was already wanted in unrelated matters, faces charges including possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, break and enter and theft, mischief under $5,000, and failure to comply with probation. None of the charges has been proven in court.

The case immediately raised an uncomfortable question: what is a person supposed to do after waking up at night and discovering an armed stranger inside his home?

Ontario Premier Doug Ford criticized the decision to charge the resident, saying the case showed that “something is broken.” Kawartha Lakes Police Chief Kirk Robertson responded that Canadians do have the right to defend themselves and their property, but that right is not unlimited. Section 34 of the Criminal Code says self-defence depends on whether the response was reasonable in the circumstances, considering factors such as the threat, weapons involved and proportionality.

For me, as a Meridian Press correspondent and an Ottawa resident, this story feels particularly disturbing. In recent months, several people I know personally have been robbed or had property stolen. Five years ago, stories like these seemed much rarer in my circle. Statistics may tell one story and personal experience another, but my own impression is difficult to ignore: Ottawa does not feel as safe to me today as it did five years ago.

Police data for the first six months of 2025 show how common property crime remains. From January through June, Ottawa recorded about 9,510 thefts, 1,229 break-and-enter incidents and 297 robberies. These are separate legal categories, but the numbers help explain why conversations about locks, cameras, stolen cars and home security seem increasingly common.

I miss the Ottawa of several years ago, when many of us worried less about crime in everyday life. There was a sense that this was a quiet, comfortable capital where serious crime happened somewhere else. Perhaps that feeling was partly an illusion, but I still miss it.

Perhaps this is only my perception. So I would like to ask our readers: compared with five years ago, do you personally encounter crime more often today? And, most importantly, do you still feel as safe in Ottawa as you once did?