MONTREAL — Richard Henry Bain, charged with first-degree murder in the shooting of a stage technician at a political rally in September, called himself a "Christian soldier" Friday in court.

Immediately after entering the courtroom, Bain, 62, ignored the judge and his lawyer and began ranting about how he was "chosen by God ... to bring peace to the English and French in Quebec."

After Bain's rant, Judge Robert Marchi accepted Bain's lawyer's request that her client undergo a psychiatric evaluation to determine if Bain is fit to stand trial.

The fishing-lodge owner faces 16 charges in the death of Denis Blanchette, 48, outside the Metropolis club on Sept. 4 as Parti Quebecois Leader Pauline Marois was giving her election victory speech inside.

On Friday, Bain's lawyer, Elfriede Duclervil, told reporters her client has been "unable to give us any rational information to work on his defence."

She said Bain has been talking about "his vision" for the past two weeks.

"(Bain) said he is on a mission, and it's Jesus who sent him," she told reporters outside the courtroom. "He said he had a vision to rid Quebec of separatists."

Duclervil asked her client in court if he knew who he was, or why he was in front of a judge.

"Yes," Bain replied, standing in the accused box, wearing a loose fitting, maroon-and-grey-coloured sweater.

Bain began his courtroom rant on Friday by saying that the day was a "holy day of remembrance," as it was the anniversary of the Dec. 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.

Bain said Christian armies fought in the Second World War and he too is fighting on the side of God, for "freedom to speak your mother tongue."

"I am a Christian soldier ... the English will never surrender."

On Sept. 4, the night that the PQ won the provincial election, police say a man wearing a black cape opened fire outside the nightclub. The attacker threw a Molotov cocktail at a side door, police say, and bodyguards rushed Marois off the stage.

The suspect shouted "the English are waking up" before police led him away.

The charges against Bain include first-degree murder, attempted murder, arson and a host of firearms and explosives charges.

Police said they seized 17 weapons from his home north of Montreal.

Marois has said she believes the shooter was trying to assassinate her.

Bain is due back in court on Dec. 17.