An Ottawa criminologist says questions about whether political pressure was put on the RCMP commissioner in the investigation into the Nova Scotia shooting illustrate why Brenda Lucki should not report to the public safety minister.
A parliamentary committee has called Lucki, former public safety minister Bill Blair and several other RCMP witnesses to explain what happened during a phone call on April 28, 2020, during which Lucki allegedly said who had promised federal officials that he would disclose information about the type of weapons used in the shooting.
According to handwritten notes from the Supt. Darren Campbell, who was in charge of the investigation into the shooting that left 22 dead, Lucki said he was tied to the next liberal arms control legislation.
Campbell chose not to publish anything about the weapons, claiming that this could jeopardize the ongoing investigation.
Read more: Trudeau says there is no political interference in the Nova Scotia shooting investigation: “Absolutely not.”
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So far, no one has been charged with gun-related crimes in the case, and it was soon revealed that the gunman obtained all the weapons illegally, passing most of the United States.
Lucki, the prime minister’s office and Blair have denied any political interference in the RCMP investigation.
Criminologist Darryl Davies said that if the commissioner reported to Parliament, rather than the public safety minister, that would not be a problem.
“It makes it very clear that the RCMP is an autonomous and independent organization and that decision-making will be taken without undue influence from politicians,” he said.
1:45 Bill Blair asked about possible interference in Nova Scotia’s mass shooting RCMP investigation Bill Blair was asked about possible interference in Nova Scotia’s mass shooting RCMP investigation
The RCMP Act states that the commissioner is appointed by the minister and “under the direction of the minister, has control and management of the force and all matters relating to the force.”
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Another criminologist disagrees that parliamentary responsibility is the answer.
Rob Gordon, who teaches at Simon Fraser University, said what the force needs is proper non-political civilian oversight, but for that to be effective, he said a review of his tenure is needed first.
“It’s trying to be too much stuff for too many people,” he said, noting that U.S. and UK federal police forces, for example, don’t have the police charge hired in rural and remote areas.
Reports have called for such structural reforms over the years, but no government has acted on them, Gordon said.
“Unfortunately, we’ve been cursed with a Canadian icon and no one wants to break it,” he said.
Read more: Public investigation in Nova Scotia calling for an explanation in Ottawa of withheld notes
Faced with repeated questions from the opposition on Thursday about whether he believed Campbell’s version of events at the April 28, 2020 meeting, Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair said: “I have never criticized and will not criticize. a member in service of the RCMP “.
Gordon called the statement “irresponsible and disappointing flim-flam”, while Davies said it shows that governments continue to defend the RCMP instead of trying to fix it.
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“It’s an institution that has been in crisis and has been dysfunctional for many years,” he said.
Recent evidence from public investigations into the killings has focused on how the RCMP withheld information during and after the killings.
Although Lucki and the national headquarters were prepared to publish a list of the names of the victims, the Nova Scotia RCMP did not publish this information.
At his initial press conference, when reporters asked about the number of victims, the superintendent in chief. Chris Leather said he was “over 10.” Documents released through the investigation show that Leather knew there were at least 17 dead.
Hours later, Lucki granted two separate media interviews in which he said the death toll was 13, and then 17.
At 23:00 on 19 April 2020, the RCMP had concluded that up to 22 people had died, but did not reveal the final number until two days later.
Davies said this demonstrates the need for better policies, training and operational procedures, which “either do not exist or are collapsing.”
“We know that some of the field agents who are responding to requests for information from both the media and families, etc., some of them had absolutely no training in this area.” , he said.
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The investigation will resume hearings on Tuesday.
© 2022 The Canadian Press