RCMP Deputy Darren Campbell offers an update on Nova Scotia shooting research at the RCMP headquarters in Dartmouth, NS on June 4, 2020. Andrew Vaughan / The Canadian Press
Former RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson and other retired members defend the integrity of Superintendent Darren Campbell, who has alleged that current Commissioner Brenda Lucki interfered in the investigation into the largest mass shooting in Canadian history to help on the Liberal government’s arms control agenda.
Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair does not accept the Supt. Campbell’s written account of a conference call on 28 April 2020 between Commissioner Lucki and RCMP commanders overseeing the criminal investigation into the 10-day run-off of a lone gunman in Nova Scotia. Twenty-two people were killed in the shooting.
The dispute dominated the House of Commons question period on Wednesday and prompted Conservatives and New Democrats to call for parliamentary hearings to determine who is telling the truth. The opposition wants to hear the testimony of Mr. Blair, of Commissioner Lucki, of the Supnt. Campbell and other agents who were part of the April 28 call.
RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki has to go
RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki accused of interfering in NS mass shooting investigation to help liberal government arms control agenda
Sup. Campbell’s notes say Commissioner Lucki told RCMP agents that she had “promised the Minister of Public Security and the Prime Minister’s Office” that the force would reveal the type of firearms used in the mass shooting. because it would advance “government-pending arms control.” legislation ”. Mr. Blair was Minister of Public Safety at the time.
The RCMP official explained that Commissioner Lucki was upset because he refused to do so out of concern that the policy could jeopardize the cross-border police investigation. The gunman had smuggled three of the weapons into Canada from the United States.
Mr. Blair asked the Supt. Campbell’s handwritten notes that were sent to the Mass Victims Commission investigation.
“The superintendent obviously came to his own conclusions and his notes reflect that. But I tell you, and I would tell the superintendent if I talked to him, that I made no effort to pressure the RCMP to interfere in any way. in his investigation, “Blair told reporters.
“I did not give any indication as to what information they should communicate. These are RCMP operational decisions. And I respect that and I have respected it at all times,” the PMO said. government.
Mr. Blair has not said whether he or the PMO obtained assurances from Commissioner Lucki that the type of weapons used in the shooting would be made public quickly.
In response to repeated questions to the Commons, Mr. Blair said MPs should ask the commissioner.
“Conversations between the commissioner and her subordinates are something she can talk to,” he said.
The Globe and Mail on Wednesday asked Commissioner Lucki to confirm or deny the sup. Campbells’ allegations about the alleged promise to Mr. Blair and the PMO.
She refused to respond and the RCMP headquarters said in a statement on Tuesday.
“The commissioner made it clear that she did not interfere with the ongoing investigation, nor did she feel any political pressure to do so,” relations with the RCMP media said.
RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki hears a question during a press conference in Ottawa on October 21, 2020. Adrian Wyld / The Canadian Press
Mr. Paulson, who was commissioner from 2011 to 2017, would not be involved in the political controversy surrounding his successor. But he defended the sd. Campbell, a former homicide investigator from the RCMP’s Vancouver office who promoted and brought to Ottawa headquarters during his tenure.
“Darren is one of the best force investigators and a highly reliable officer with tremendous integrity,” Mr. Paulson. “You won’t find a police officer in office who speaks ill of Darren Campbell.”
Former Deputy Commissioner Pierre-Yves Borduas said there is no way that the sup. Campbell would invent a story about Commissioner Lucki.
“This officer has a solid reputation,” he said, adding that “there is a mixture of politics and a great political inclination and it is unfortunate.”
Former RCMP Superintendent Peter Lepine also spoke in support of the Supt. Campbell.
“I’ve been following Darren Campbell since the day he was a recruit,” Mr. Lepine. “He is an extremely competent and highly trained police officer in the world of major investigations.”
Mr. Lepine said he doesn’t believe Mr. Campbell “would fake any note or have any diary to hang someone to dry.”
The recently published testimony is not the first example that the Nova Scotia investigation has found where Mounties relates the Liberal government’s effort to exercise control over the RCMP.
In an interview with commission investigators, Lia Scanlan, the former director of strategic communications for the RCMP in Halifax, spoke of pressure from Ottawa. The transcript was released earlier this month.
Mrs. Scanlan told the investigation that federal government officials, including Mr. Blair and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, “were thinking about what we could and could not say” during media conferences.
The transcript of his statements was heavily drafted in some sections by the Mass Victims Commission prior to its publication, and therefore some details of the testimony remain secret.
At another time, Ms. Scanlan spoke of Commissioner Lucki’s conduct in an interview and attributed what had happened to “political pressure”, adding “that is, 100% of Minister Blair and the Prime Minister”.
He then told investigators: “We have a commissioner who does not back down.”
Bill Elliott, a former federal bureaucrat who became the country’s first RCMP civilian chief between 2007 and 2011, said he saw nothing wrong with Commissioner Lucki’s conduct.
“I can understand the reluctance of researchers to disclose information. I think it’s appropriate for people like the RCMP commissioner to have other considerations,” he said.
Both the Conservative Party and the NDP are calling for an emergency meeting of the House of Commons Committee on Public Safety and National Security to hold hearings on the matter.
Conservative public safety critic Raquel Dancho and NDP public safety critic Alistair MacGregor have written to Jim Carr, the Liberal MP chairing the committee, calling for a meeting as soon as possible.
According to the rules of the House, the meeting of a committee may be requested by four members of the committee, and one must be held within five calendar days to consider the request. .
With a report by Colin Freeze
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