The Canada Border Services Agency suggests there is nothing it could have done to keep Zhebin Cong from getting a plane and leaving the country.
In a statement to NEWSTALK 1010, a CBSA spokesperson says the agency does have the authority to arrest someone wanted on a Canada-wide warrant, or someone committing a crime when entering or leaving the country.
However, it says someone found not criminally responsible is, "not in the same legal position."
Cong is the man who disappeared after leaving the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health on a day pass. He's was in the care of CAMH after murdering his roommate with a meat cleaver in 2014.
Here is the full statement from the CBSA:
"Although the CBSA has the authority to arrest someone entering or exiting Canada who is wanted on Canada-wide warrants for indictable offences, or where someone is committing a criminal offence when entering or exiting, a person who is subject to a not criminally responsible committal warrant is not in the same legal position.
Even if the CBSA had been engaged, its authorities could not be exercised as the unlawfully at large offence does not apply, given the person is not serving a sentence.
As indicated by Minister Goodale's office today, with the coming into force of Bill C-21, the Entry/Exit legislation will require airlines to share their passenger manifests in advance, enabling law enforcement to better respond to the outbound movement of known high-risk travellers before their actual departure. This is expected to begin in 2020."