By Canadian Press

Victims’ families press for senior RCMP witnesses at N.S. mass shooting inquiry

Mar 7, 2022 | 9:15 AM

HALIFAX — The public inquiry into the Nova Scotia mass shooting is hearing from lawyers for victims’ families today on why they want to call RCMP officers and a key 911 operator to the stand.

Sandra McCulloch, a lawyer for 14 of the 22 victims’ families, cited the need to have five supervising officers testify to explain their decisions on the night of April 18, 2020, as the killer’s 13-hour rampage began in Portapique, N.S.

For example, she says she wants to ask a supervising officer, Staff Sgt. Brian Rehill, about his comment that sending more officers into the enclave would have created the risk of Mounties shooting at each other.

Lawyers for the RCMP and the RCMP police union responded that questions to the officers can be addressed through written responses and it may be more relevant to call them later in the hearings.

Commission chairman Michael MacDonald said during his opening remarks today that the commission does “expect to hear from” the RCMP officers being sought as witnesses, but the timing and format has yet to be determined.

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The proceedings have a mandate to be “trauma-informed,” and the police union has argued officers could be re-traumatized if they are forced to testify, however McCulloch argued it may cause families trauma not to hear a full account of police actions.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 7, 2022.

The Canadian Press