RCMP chief says mass shooting in Nova Scotia became a “tipping point” where residents lost faith in the Highlands, after public and media criticism poured in morale in the ranks of the forces and an increase in retirements or transfers. .
Commissioner Brenda Lucki faces questions from the Mass Casualty Commission leading the public inquiry into the April 2020 mass shooting in Halifax on Tuesday.
Web streaming of the testimony can be found here.
When asked about the high turnover in Nova Scotia’s senior ranks after the mass shooting, Lucki said that while there is often a spike in people leaving their jobs after a traumatic event, he believes which was also due to the negative narrative and Canadians “losing confidence in their local.” RCMP.”
Until the mass shooting on April 18-19, 2020, Lucki said the Nova Scotia RCMP had a good relationship with its citizens.
“But then things happen, and you don’t want it to be a defining moment; you don’t want it to be a turning point, and that’s what happened,” Lucki said.
“I think it was a tough pill for managers to swallow because they take it internally and I honestly wouldn’t expect anything different.”
The commission has heard that three of the province’s top officers have either retired or moved to positions in other provinces as of this month, which Lucki said was a “very unusual” amount of senior-level turnover .
Lucki noted that shortly after the mass shooting, not only was there criticism of how Nova Scotia’s response was handled, but more conversations about systemic racism in policing in general emerged after the death of George Floyd in hands of a Minneapolis police officer.
“It affects our recruiting when people don’t want to join your organization, and we used to have thousands of people who wanted to join,” Lucki said.
Lucki said Canadians are “losing confidence in their local RCMP.” (The Canadian Press/Andrew Vaughan)
“It has to take a toll on you. I know it does because it takes a toll on me every day, and I think, ‘How can we do it better?'”
Lucki also spoke to the commission earlier in August, when he discussed the controversy over whether he was under political pressure to release information about the gunman’s firearms ahead of the Liberal government’s gun control legislation.
The political controversy began in June, when Chief Superintendent. Darren Campbell’s notes from an April 28, 2020 call with Lucki and members of the Nova Scotia RCMP were released as part of the investigation.
Campbell wrote that the commissioner was “saddened and disappointed” and “had promised the Minister of Public Safety and the Premier’s Office that the RCMP, [we] would release this information.”
He repeated that claim earlier this month before a House of Commons committee, saying Lucki appeared to reject his argument that releasing details of the makes and models of firearms could affect the ongoing investigation.
Bill Blair, who was public safety minister at the time, has denied ever asking Lucki to pressure the RCMP to release gun information. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said the government did not put any “undue” pressure on the RCMP.
Problem due to miscommunication: Lucki
Lucki told the House of Commons public safety and national security committee that things went sideways after a miscommunication between her and the Nova Scotia RCMP.
Before Campbell’s press conference on 28 April 2020, Lucki said Blair’s chief of staff asked him if details of the weapon would be released publicly. Lucki said he checked with his RCMP national communications team, who told him details would be released.
Lucki passed this information on to Blair’s office and the Deputy Minister of Public Safety. But when details of the weapon were not released, Lucki was upset because “I felt that I had misinformed the minister and by extension the prime minister.”
Details of the firearms were only made public through a briefing note given to the prime minister by Lucki, which emerged through an access to information request.
Twenty-two people died on April 18 and 19, 2020. Top row from left: Gina Goulet, Dawn Gulenchyn, Jolene Oliver, Frank Gulenchyn, Sean McLeod, Alanna Jenkins. Second row: John Zahl, Lisa McCully, Joey Webber, Heidi Stevenson, Heather O’Brien and Jamie Blair. Third row from top: Kristen Beaton, Lillian Campbell, Joanne Thomas, Peter Bond, Tom Bagley and Greg Blair. Bottom row: Emily Tuck, Joy Bond, Corrie Ellison and Aaron Tuck. (CBC)
Despite the Nova Scotia Mounties’ request that the firearm information be shared only internally within the RCMP, the emails show Lucki sent those details to the offices of the Minister of Public Safety and the adviser to national security of the prime minister.
Earlier Tuesday, the commissioner finished questioning retired Assistant Commissioner Lee Bergerman, who was the commander of the Nova Scotia RCMP at the time of the mass shooting.
The inquiry also heard Tuesday that the federal Justice Department had yet to disclose a year of Bergerman’s memos to the commission, following a pattern of late disclosure and withholding pages of documents to check for privilege.
Lori Ward, a lawyer for the department, said that while they had collected and shared Bergerman’s notes until October 2020, it took some time to gather the remaining notebooks between then and his retirement in October 2021
“I regret the situation,” Ward said.
The commission had reserved Tuesday and Wednesday to hear from Lucki.