Justice admits it withheld Mountie's notes
Revelation ignites fresh political storm
OTTAWA • Justice Canada says it should have consulted the inquiry looking into Canada's worst mass shooting in history instead of withholding critical information from them for nearly four months.
This admission of fault came on Friday after the Mass Casualty Commission confirmed that it did not receive the entirety of RCMP Supt. Darren Campbell's handwritten notes, including the pages that describe allegations of political interference in order to advance the Liberals' gun- control agenda.
They describe RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki's attempts to make Nova Scotia RCMP officials disclose the types of firearms that were used in the shooting, days after it happened, since it was information she had “promised” to Bill Blair, then minister of public safety, and the Prime Minister's Office.
The Commission's investigations director, Barbara Mclean, said that the inquiry has sought to obtain “an explanation” why these four pages were missing from the original disclosure in mid-february, and is also “seeking assurance that nothing else has been held back as per direction from subpoenas.”
In a response on Friday evening, a spokesperson for Justice Canada said that those notes from Campbell “required further assessment of whether they were privileged,” but a review determined that it was not the case. They were then disclosed at the end of May.
“While it is a usual practice to review documents for privilege before disclosure, the Commission was not advised that some pages of the notes of senior officers were being reviewed for privilege,” said Ian Mcleod in an email sent to National Post.
“( The) Department of Justice counsel should have done so and will work with the Commission to establish a process for review. Those pages have now been fully disclosed, unredacted, in advance of the testimony of Supt. Campbell,” he added.
The federal government was already under fire for the allegations made in Campbell's handwritten notes, but the idea that some of that information was withheld caused another political storm on Friday.
The federal Conservatives are now requesting that Justice Minister David Lametti appear to testify in front of members of the Commons public safety committee during the summer to explain why these four pages were held back for months by his department.
“I don't see how this isn't some sort of coverup. It is too coincidental that those very political pages were withheld,” said the party's Public Safety critic Raquel Dancho in an interview.
The committee voted to hold a hearing at the end of July to hear from Lucki, Campbell and other RCMP officials on the allegations of political interference after the mass shooting. Blair, currently the minister of emergency preparedness, will also be summoned to answer MPS' questions.
The Conservatives were hoping to question a representative of the Prime Minister's Office on the issue, but that was voted down by the Liberals at committee. The Bloc Québécois and the NDP abstained because they said it was unclear who would be invited from the PMO.
Dancho said that both the Bloc and the NDP were open to inviting more people to testify in the future if needed.
“So as the story evolves, we are certainly very focused on getting anyone who was involved in this in any way to come answer some questions, so we can get the truth,” said Dancho.
Lucki has denied that she interfered in the ongoing investigations into fatal shooting of 22 Nova Scotians over 13 hours in April 2020, and said she regrets the way she approached the meeting at the time.
But she has not denied that she made her request on orders from the Liberal government.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reiterated on Thursday his confidence in the RCMP Commissioner and said that his government had not put “any undue influence or pressure” on the national police force's investigation to advance political interests.
Blair repeated a similar message each time he was pressed on the issue in the House of Commons this week, but was forced to admit also that Superintendent Campbell is a credible voice given his high reputation in the RCMP.
“I have absolutely no doubt the Superintendent is an exemplary officer, and I don't question his integrity in any way,” said Blair.
Both Lucki and Campbell will be testifying in front of the Mass Casualty Commission, but the dates of their testimonies are not yet known.