HALIFAX –
The team in charge of the RCMP’s initial response to the 2020 mass shooting in Nova Scotia began testifying on Monday ahead of an investigation, but the public has been banned from listening.
For unspecified health reasons, Sergeant. Brian Rehill was granted permission to testify via a Zoom call, which is being recorded and will be posted later.
Rehill has also been released from cross-examination by lawyers representing the relatives of the 22 people killed between April 18 and 19, 2020. That decision last week prompted most families to boycotted the proceedings and some protested outside the hearings in Truro, NS
The reaction is believed to be unprecedented for a public investigation of this scale.
“I’ve never come across a situation like this where the commissioners of a public inquiry seem to have lost the trust of key parties and potentially the general public,” said Ed Ratushny, a professor emeritus at the University of ‘Ottawa and author of the 2009 book, “The Conduct of Public Surveys.”
“My view is that this commission must have lost sight of the fundamental and crucial role of a public inquiry. Instead of a full public fact-finding process, it has … limited opportunities to challenge its research “.
In addition, Ratushny said that the commission of inquiry should adhere to the legal principle of “equity”, which states that administrative courts must allow participants to “prove the evidence … through questions vigorous “.
A second senior Mountie, sgt. Andy O’Brien, has been granted the same accommodations as Rehill. O’Brien is expected to testify behind closed doors on Tuesday.
In a statement on Friday, the commission defended its approach. “Given the health information provided, allowing witnesses to provide evidence in this way will reduce the stress and time pressure that comes from the oral statement in live proceedings,” he said. “This format will facilitate the testimony and therefore provide clear evidence.”
Participating attorneys, including those representing the victims’ families, were asked to ask questions for Rehill and O’Brien, but it will be up to the commission to decide what questions to ask the witnesses. After the first round of questions, the participating lawyers will be asked if they have more questions.
The commission has said that the reasons for the special agreements must be kept confidential because its decision is based on private personal information, such as physical or psychological health needs.
In an earlier interview with the commission’s lawyers, Rehill confirmed that he had been unemployed for 16 months after the tragedy, saying he had problems with questions about the decisions he made.
For some of the relatives of the victims, the commission should never have offered the two mountains an exemption from cross-examination.
“If the agents who were in charge … can’t go up to the stands and defend the decisions they made, then there’s something wrong with this whole process,” Charlene Bagley said Thursday during Truro’s protest. His father, Tom, was shot dead by the gunman in early April 19, 2020, when he was walking through West Wentworth, NS.
Bagley said cross-examination is a must.
“It’s easy to sit there and tell the story you’ve been told to tell,” he said. “It’s much harder to face difficult questions. The truth hurts, but we need it.”
Nova Scotia lawyer Adam Rodgers, who has been analyzing the progress of the investigation on his blog, said such anger is justified.
“Participants have been marginalized throughout the … procedure, and the inability to cross-examine witnesses effectively is critical to this marginalization,” Rodgers said in an email.
On 19 May, the Nova Scotia RCMP issued a statement saying the investigation would violate its own rules if it were called to declare the traumatic assemblies without any accommodation. The mandate of the investigation calls for an informed approach to trauma.
Toronto attorney John Mather, who has worked on investigations as a commission attorney, said the Mass Victims Commission, as it is formally known, faces a challenge because it cannot reveal why they are being prosecuted. granted special status to Rehill and O’Brien. .
“I think they must have seen a real concern that … the cross-examination could create a real risk of trauma for these two officers,” Mather said in a recent interview.
“At the same time, I have empathy with the families of the victims because they don’t really know why this decision was made, and this question will probably never be answered.”
As for the claim that the investigation could lead to a loss of public confidence, Mather said the impact of the special accommodations will not be known until the commission presents its final report on Nov. 1.
“The importance of the testimony of these agents cannot be underestimated,” he said. “Will there be a gap for the decision and the boycott? It’s hard to say … The (final) report could be excellent, but it could still suffer from a lack of public confidence.”
On the night of April 18, 2020, Rehill was the RCMP Risk Manager at its Operational Communications Center in Truro, NS. When the center received 911 calls confirming that an active shooter was loose in Portapique, NS, Rehill immediately took command.
Although O’Brien was out of service and had consumed four to five glasses of rum at home, he retrieved his portable radio from the detachment, with the help of his wife, and joined in to offer instructions to officers. who responded.
The investigation has revealed that there was confusion about who was responsible that night. Commissioner Leanne Fitch, a former police chief in Fredericton, said the testimony had revealed “a considerable break in communication”.