HALIFAX: As public hearings into April 2020’s mass shooting and arson rampage in rural Nova Scotia are finally set to get underway after lengthy delays, some families close to the tragedy worry they won’t be heard.
Sandra McCulloch, a lawyer representing survivors and family members of the 22 people killed (including a pregnant woman), declined an interview request but she reiterated a recent emailed statement expressing their concerns about the public proceedings, which will begin Feb. 22 after being pushed back twice.
“Our clients deserve the opportunity to fully explore and test the evidence before the commission, including questioning those who have knowledge about the tragic events of April 2020, and to secure meaningful answers about what happened, and why,” she said. “Our clients are becoming increasingly concerned by these delays and the limited information being shared about what the public proceedings will entail, and what role those ‘most affected’ will be afforded in those public proceedings.”
McCulloch, who’s representing the survivors and families in two proposed class action suits, said they are waiting for “meaningful assurances that a fulsome public inquiry is what they will receive.”
A daughter of one of the women killed by a gunman disguised as a Mountie wrote a letter to the Mass Casualty Commission expressing her dissatisfaction with “the process that has taken over what should be a ‘public inquiry.’”
Darcy Dobson, who pushed hard for a full inquiry into the senseless tragedy and RCMP missteps, said the commission is failing to provide survivors and family members with the information they need.
“You are not giving our counsel the right to cross examine any of your hand-picked witnesses,” she wrote in the letter, a copy of which she provided to the CBC. “You have spent the better part of a year paying lip service to anyone who will listen, and we have no real answers.”
The commission, set up in October 2020 following public pressure for a full inquiry, isn’t yet providing details on witnesses and who will be able to question them.
What to expect
COVID-19 restrictions permitting, the hearings are being held live at the Halifax Convention Centre. They are expected to continue through most of the year, with a Monday to Thursday, 9.30 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. schedule.
Opening remarks will be made by the trio of commissioners heading up the independent public inquiry.
Lawyers for the Mass Casualty Commission will then begin presenting evidence to the commissioners and to the public.
In the first week, that will include information about the communities and areas most affected by the tragedy, and a report on the structure of policing in Nova Scotia.
The agenda for the second week is scheduled to focus on what happened in Portapique during the 13-hour rampage on April 18 and 19, 2020, the actions of first responders and containment points in and around the tiny Colchester County community.
Following the tragedy, the RCMP were blasted for failing to send an emergency alert as soon as they learned the gunman was driving a mock RCMP vehicle. Officers mistakenly believed he was contained however he continued on his rampage. Their first alert, delivered hours after the rampage started, was via Twitter instead of to the mobile phones of Nova Scotians.
On Feb. 18, Nova Scotia RCMP issued a press release noting that they have been cooperating fully with the independent inquiry and it is their hope the inquiry will provide a full accounting of what happened for the families of the victims and the public.
“What took place in Northeast Nova Scotia was unprecedented and has forever affected victims’ families foremost, but also RCMP employees, community members and all Nova Scotians,” the release stated. “We owe it to the memory of those we lost to learn as much as we can from the unprecedented incidents.”
The RCMP said they look forward to receiving any recommendations that will help them provide Nova Scotians and Canadians with the most effective and efficient police services possible.
“The RCMP has confidence in the training, professionalism and bravery of our employees who responded to the unprecedented incidents,” they said in the release. “We continue our contact with the victims’ families through our family liaison and to support the hundreds of employees who responded to the incidents and carried out the H-Strong investigation.”
Information at the hearings will be drawn from extensive “foundational documents” created to share key facts and events leading up to and during the mass casualty. To put together the documents, the commission collected and analyzed nearly 40,000 pages of evidence and 230 video and audio files, in addition to information collected through its own investigations, witness interviews and site visits.
Two delays
Gathering information and redacting sensitive and private details took longer than expected, leading to the first delay of the public hearings, which were originally scheduled to start Oct. 27 but got pushed to Jan. 25.
The commission blamed a second delay on requests from some participants for more time to prepare for the proceedings.
Survivors and family members of those killed were content with the first postponement, but unhappy when the hearings got pushed back again.
Their lawyers, including Patterson Law’s McCulloch in Truro, have been participating in the non-public opportunities provided by the commission for them to have input on the investigation.
The commission is now more than halfway through its two-year mandate, which is scheduled to culminate in November 2022 with a report of final findings and recommendations.
Led by retired Nova Scotia judge J. Michael MacDonald, the commission is made up of more than 60 staff, including teams for investigations, commission lawyers, research and policy, community engagement, mental health and administrative support.
The inquiry has cost roughly $13 million so far, with the federal government covering more than $7 million and the province nearly $6 million.
The commission has been approved for up to nearly $17 million in federal funding for the fiscal year until the end of March. More funding will be provided then, depending on the commission’s needs.
“The funds provided by both governments are committed to investigate, educate and inform in order to learn from what happened and make recommendations for change to keep communities safer in the future,” Emily Hill, the commission’s senior lawyer, said in an emailed statement. “What the commission learns about what happened on April 18 and 19, 2020 and why and how it happened will lead to recommendations that will benefit Canadians throughout the country.”
Premier Tim Houston issued a statement on Feb. 21.
“We must never lose sight of the reason for this public inquiry, to seek answers that lead to change and improve public safety,” he said. “Over the course of the last few weeks, I have heard family members express frustration and concern about the structure of the inquiry. They feel left in the dark. This is not only disrespectful, it should cause us all to pause and ask, if the families don’t have confidence in the process, how can the public?”
The Premier said Nova Scotians wanted an inquiry instead of a review to ensure the proceedings were honest, comprehensive, detailed, and designed to answer questions.
“Yet, it is still not even known if key witnesses have been subpoenaed to testify, if there will be an opportunity to cross-examine them, or if it will be a comprehensive list of witnesses,” Houston said. “This uncertainty is causing further, unnecessary trauma.
For these reasons, the commission should meet with the families and their counsel to listen to their concerns and provide them with a plan that gives them confidence in the process.”
Central Nova MP Sean Fraser said this will be the first “public-facing step” taken by the commission.
After speaking to families of some victims, Fraser called a meeting with the premier and the federal Minister of Public Safety, and said they are united in their view that the families’ confidence in the process is a “paramount consideration.”
“In conversations with some of the victims’ family members, I have learned that they feel there are gaps in communication, and that better communication would give them greater confidence that the process will be satisfactory…” he noted. “Some of the concerns include a lack of information regarding the role for families in the process, the identity of witnesses who will be called, the ability of families’ representatives to question those witnesses, and the general sense that the flow of information is being controlled in an effort to protect them, when what they want more than anything is to the truth, no matter how difficult.”
The Central Nova MP said he is available to members of any affected family who want to discuss this matter with him and he will continue to ensure federal and provincial leaders are aware of their concerns.
“To each of the affected families; difficult days lay ahead,” he stated. “But, Nova Scotians support one another. Our entire province is here for you to lean on in this time of extraordinary need.”
The first phase of the hearings will focus on what happened. The second phase, expected to start in the spring, will revolve around how and why the tragedy occurred. The third phase, likely to start in the fall, will look at recommendations to prevent a similar tragedy.
Mental health alert
Margaret Mauger, a certified trauma therapist in Shubenacadie who’s counselled people close to the tragedy, said she’s glad to see the notice on the commission’s website of mental health support services.
“It’s going to be intense for a lot of people,” she said. “I wish we talked more about trauma. On the website, they don’t refer to it as traumatic. They refer to it as mental distress. If we can start using the word trauma more, it helps the people that have experienced trauma to normalize that for people, rather than feeling, ‘I’m the only messed up person in the world.’”
Dayna Lee-Baggley, a clinical psychologist in Halifax, said people not directly touched by the tragedy should also stay in tune with their mental help if they are feeling distressed as the spotlight shines again on the tragedy.
“Sometimes people are having traumatic responses and think that they don’t deserve help and they shouldn’t be that upset,” she said. “It’s important to recognize if you are upset or it is impacting your functioning. That’s a good time to seek help.”
While the hearings will no doubt be triggering for survivors and family members, there is the potential for “post-traumatic growth,” says Lee-Baggley.
“We want to recognize people’s suffering and what they’ve been through, and we can also find things with meaning and purpose out of tragedy,” she said. “An example would be gun laws after a school shooting.”
The same could happen with the mass casualty hearings “if it is the start of implementing change,” she said.
How to attend the hearings
Anyone planning to attend the hearing at the Halifax Convention Centre will need to register and provide proof of vaccination advance.
A livestream of the hearings will be broadcast on the commission’s website. People can also dial in via a toll-free phone line. Video recordings will be posted on the commission’s website for viewing after the proceedings.
Janet Whitman is the contributing editor and a staff reporter at Advocate Media.