RCMP fined for violations
Money earmarked for children of officers killed in shooting rampage
Nearly four years after the warm June night that saw three outgunned Mounties killed in a shooting spree, the RCMP was ordered Friday to pay $550,000 for failing to properly arm and train its members.
Judge Leslie Jackson issued a clear rebuke to the force’s leadership as he handed down the sentence on Labour Code charges in a packed courtroom that included Acting RCMP Commissioner Daniel Dubeau.
The judge said high-powered carbine rifles could have made a difference for RCMP officers targeted by gunman Justin Bourque as he roamed a Moncton neighbourhood in 2014. The carbines were approved in 2011, but their rollout was repeatedly delayed.
“It is clear to me, and accepted by both parties, that the provision of carbines to responding members on June 4, 2014, could have reduced the number of deaths and/or injuries,’’ Jackson said, even as he acknowledged the force has since made improvements.
“While the failure of most of the senior RCMP management team to acknowledge that there was any delay in the patrol carbine rollout is troublesome in regard to their apparent lack of insight into the importance of workplace safety, the response post-incident has been robust.’’
Jackson fined the national police force $100,000, along with $450,000 in charitable donations for scholarships at the Université de Moncton, an education fund for the children of the fallen officers and two agencies that assist families of people injured in workplace accidents.
But, he said no sentence would deal with the families’ grief.
Constables Doug Larche, Fabrice Gevaudan and Dave Ross were killed, and constables Eric Dubois and Darlene Goguen were injured, when gunman Justin Bourque went hunting police officers in a Moncton neighbourhood.
Bourque had targeted police officers in hopes of sparking an anti-government rebellion. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 75 years.
Nadine Larche, Larche’s wife, said she and their three daughters are reminded daily of their loss as they travel through the neighbourhood where their father was gunned down or pass by a monument erected in the officers’ honour.
“Lives were forever changed because of people’s decisions,’’ an emotional Larche said Friday outside the Moncton courthouse.
“My family’s life has forever been changed. My three children are growing up without a daddy. No judgment will bring these men back. No judgment will ever make amends. No judgment will ever make reparations. No judgment will serve justice to what happened.’’
“I’m feeling nauseated. It’s heart-wrenching, it’s hard, it’s extremely difficult,’’ she said.
The force was convicted of failing to provide its members with adequate use-of-force equipment and user training.