TRURO: As the public inquiry probing April 2020’s mass shooting in rural Nova Scotia wrapped up months of public hearings last week, the RCMP response to the rampage took centre stage.
Lawyers for the families of victims and the shooter’s common-law spouse, Lisa Banfield, blasted the force, while an attorney for the RCMP and the federal government admitted the handling of the tragedy was “far from perfect” and another for the union representing rank-and-file officers spoke of their bravery and the toll on their mental health.
The remarks are being followed up with final written submissions to be considered by the government-appointed inquiry’s three commissioners as they write a final report with a list of recommendations to try and thwart the repeat of a similar tragedy in Canada.
The Mass Casualty Commission is also inviting suggestions from the general public until the end of September.
Patterson Law’s Sandra McCulloch, who’s representing most of the families of the 22 people killed, said the RCMP displayed “an inordinate amount of ball dropping” as officers responded to the 13-hour shooting and arson rampage that began in the tiny community of Portapique on April 18, 2020.
“Now is not the time to shy away from assigning accountability (out of) fear that it might have the appearance of blame,” she said. “Our clients deserve a frank and honest assessment of what went wrong.”
The mounds of evidence compiled since the tragedy show the RCMP was ill-equipped to grapple with the situation, she said.
The gunman, disguised as a Mountie and driving a replica police cruiser, eluded capture until RCMP officers happened upon him by chance nearly 100 kilometres from Portapique at a Big Stop gas station in Enfield, where they opened fire and killed him.
Jessica Zita, a lawyer for Banfield, faulted the RCMP for failing to flag the gunman as high risk for significant violence given his “alarming history.”
She said Banfield, a long-time domestic violence victim at the hands of her spouse and his first victim in the massacre, said her client had no idea RCMP officers who spoke with her for several weeks after the tragedy were “plotting” to charge her with supplying him with ammunition.
“This is … inappropriate conduct to betray the trust of a victim of domestic violence,” she said, adding it was “outdated, ill-informed and out of touch.”
The charges against Banfield have since been dropped after being settled through a restorative justice process.
Lori Ward, a lawyer representing the RCMP and the Department of Justice, admitted missteps but said the officers “did their best.”
“No response to a critical incident of this magnitude could be perfect, but when this crisis hit, the RCMP showed up, did their best, and acted with courage, determination, and dedication,” she said.
She said social media alerts about the shooter sent out by the RCMP could have come sooner and offered more information, while internal radio communications failed to deliver critical information that might have helped thwart the attack.
“These are just some of the things the RCMP wishes it could go back in time and change,” she said. “Some relate to training, equipment, and resources. Some are simply human error. All of them are regrettable.”
Nasha Nijhawan, a lawyer for the RCMP union, said grappling with the event itself and the public and media scrutiny in the months following has taken a toll on officers.
“In addition to being police officers, (RCMP union) members are also community members, who, along with their families, were directly affected by the mass casualty, either through their involvement in the police response or through their connection to their murdered colleague, Constable Stevenson, who was part of their RCMP family,” she said.
She said members have reported severe mental health effects as a result in their involvement in the events. “Let’s not forget who was responsible for killing 22 people and who was responsible for killing him,” she said.
The commission’s top lawyer, Emily Hill, said at a media briefing last week that the final report will be delivered on time and on budget, after getting a five-month extension with a new deadline of March 31, 2023.
It’s estimated the inquiry will cost $47.5 million, an expense being covered by the federal and provincial governments.
Hill said some subpoenaed information, including documents from the RCMP, have yet to arrive, but that the commission has everything it needs to complete the final report.
With the probe, the commission can’t lay blame or liability and is instead on a fact-finding mission to produce a report aimed at preventing another such tragedy.
While the inquiry’s trauma-informed approach has drawn some criticism, the commission’s research director, Emma Cunliffe, said it assisted “in building the most accurate and complete possible factual record.
“It allowed individuals to participate in our process who may not otherwise have been able to do so,” said Cunliffe, a law professor whose research focuses on complex criminal matters such as violence against women.
She said last week’s media briefing that the big challenge was helping participants and the public understand the approach.
“Perhaps one thing I would change is to spend more time and attention early trying to explain why we were making some of the decisions we made and the ways we did,” she said.