In Truro, N.S., the Mass Casualty Commission will give a 3,000-page report
Almost three years after the April 2020 tragedy, the independent commission that was asked to look into the deadliest mass shooting in modern Canadian history is putting out its final report.
Today at noon AST, the Mass Casualty Commission is expected to give a roughly 3,000-page report on what happened on April 18 and 19, 2020, when a gunman pretending to be a Mountie killed 22 people in 13 hours.
In this story, the event will be shown live on the web by CBC News.
The recommendations are expected to talk about how easy it was for the shooter to get guns, his past interactions with police and social services, emergency communications, intimate-partner violence, police actions and training, and how those most affected by the violence were told about it and helped.
Michael Scott of Patterson Law, which represents most of the families of the victims, said that his clients want a strong report with “insightful, meaningful opportunities for change” that they can work for in the years to come.
“They spent a lot of time and work on this question. All of them had a hard time, and I think what they want most is for their hard work to count for something good “Tuesday, Scott said.
“They’ll be very worried if that result doesn’t bring about the changes they were hoping for, since it was hard for them to get an inquiry in the first place.”
During the inquiry, the commissioners gave hints that the final report would suggest ways to make Canadian communities safer without pointing fingers. But Scott said that shouldn’t stop them from talking about who is responsible.
“It’s impossible to fix mistakes after a mass killing if we’re not willing to name and admit those mistakes,” he said.
“That’s a must if you want to make useful suggestions for change.”
Given that the RCMP hasn’t always followed recommendations and rules after other tragedies, Scott said it will take several years of work to make sure the recommendations don’t “fall off the table” like they have in the past.
On the night of April 18, 2020, the shooter, Gabriel Wortman, attacked his partner, Lisa Banfield. This was the first act of violence. She was able to get away, but he went on to kill 13 people in Portapique, N.S., and burn down several houses in the small Colchester County town, including his own.
- The Nova Scotia mass casualty investigation was covered in full by CBC.
The commission thinks that the gunman then drove away in a replica RCMP cruiser on a back road as the first Mounties arrived at the scene of the shootings. He spent the night in the area around Debert, which is about 20 km east of Portapique.
He killed nine more people the next day, one of whom was pregnant. The shooting spree ended when two RCMP officers killed him at a gas station in Enfield, which is more than 90 kilometers south of where it began.
The people who were killed include the gunman’s neighbors or former coworkers, as well as strangers who happened to cross his path and an RCMP officer who was hurt in a gunfight.
From February to September 2022, the commission held public hearings for 76 days, during which time it released 31 documents and more than 7,000 exhibits and source materials.
It was ordered by both the provincial government and the federal government, and it is expected to cost around $47 million from both levels of government.
As part of their investigation, the commissioners talked to 230 people, including about 80 members of the RCMP. At the public hearing, only 60 of the witnesses spoke, and about half of them were RCMP members.
But the commission’s decision to focus on closed-door interviews and limit questions for key witnesses in an effort to be trauma-informed made many victims’ families angry and frustrated.
The final report was supposed to come out on November 1, 2022, but the commission asked that the date be changed to March 20, 2023.
You can call the Nova Scotia Provincial Crisis Line at 1-888-429-8167 at any time, day or night, if you are in trouble or feeling too much. If you live outside of Nova Scotia, the Nova Scotia Provincial Crisis Service can also put you in touch with other crisis services.
You can call 211 or go to 211.ca if you or someone you know is having trouble in any way. 211 is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and in more than 100 languages. They can help you find the right services for your needs.
The Kids Help Phone is a national helpline that can be reached at 1-800-668-6868 or by sending a text message to 686868 with the word CONNECT.
At www.wellnesstogether.ca, you can find more help for people all over Canada.
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