Feds told RCMP what they could, couldn’t say
What information was revealed to the public in the days following Canada's deadliest mass shooting wasn't solely up to the RCMP, claims the director of strategic communications for the Nova Scotia RCMP.
In an interview this past February, Lia Scanlan told members of the Mass Casualty Commission the federal government was involved in what the police force told the public about a gunman's 13-hour rampage that killed 22 people.
“Minister (Bill) Blair, all these people, the prime minister, they were weighing in on what we could and couldn't say,” Scanlan said.
However, what Scanlan said before and after her comment has been redacted by the Mass Casualty Commission.
An 89-page transcript of the interview, which is the second of two interviews she did with the commission before she testified in person at the public proceedings in Truro on Wednesday, was recently posted to the commission's website.
Throughout the nearly four-hour interview, Scanlan elaborates on how there was “political pressure” on the RCMP.
SEPARATE INTERVIEWS
While the Nova Scotia RCMP held its own news conferences in Dartmouth in the days following the mass shooting, Scanlan recalled how RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki did separate interviews.
Scanlan said Lucki was advised “by her people” not to, but ended up doing one-off interviews anyway, where she gave “inaccurate” facts or spoke about information that was “fluid,” such as the number of structures that had been burned.
“And she went out and did that and knew damn well — and it was all political pressure,” Scanlan said.
“That is 100 per cent minister Blair and the prime minister. And we have a commissioner that does not push back.”
Similar to her previous comments made about the federal government, some of what Scanlan said prior to and after making her statements have been redacted by the commission.
In a previous interview with the commission, Scanlan said a lot of people she worked with didn't know “some of the bull — that I was dealing with, with the province of Nova Scotia or Ottawa” because she kept it to herself.
'IT LOOKS FRAGMENTED, INCONSISTENT'
It wasn't only the federal government that was giving input on what the Nova Scotia RCMP released.
RCMP's national headquarters was also trying to give direction on what the provincial police force said during its news conferences, to the point where the two groups had decided on different casualty counts the following day.
In an email exchange with someone who worked for the director of communications for the RCMP, Scanlan's frustration came through.
“Can I request we stop changing the numbers on the victims? Please allow us to lead the release of information. It looks fragmented, inconsistent,” Scanlan wrote. “The release of 10 was decided upon for good reason.”
After several news conferences held by the Nova Scotia RCMP in Dartmouth, they stopped.
One was held in June 2020, and another in December 2020, but Scanlan said eventually, there “was no new information to share.”
INQUIRY TO 'DO THIS JUSTICE EVENTUALLY'
As months turned into years since the mass shooting, Scanlan said incorrect information about the RCMP continued to be published by media or others on social media.
And although she wanted to go out and correct some of what was being said, Scanlan said she couldn't.
“... People know that we're bound by, like, the federal government and by the bosses in the province, the bosses up there and all this,” she said.
Scanlan said when Blair announced in July 2020 that a public inquiry would be done, as opposed to the joint independent review, she was “thrilled” something would “do this justice eventually.”
In the final moments of her interview, Scanlan questioned why Supt. Darren Campbell, Chief Supt. Chris Leather and retired Assistant Commissioner Lee Bergerman hadn't been interviewed by the commission.
“They're the holders of some of the most clear information … so absolutely I think they should be interviewed,” Scanlan said.