Shooting inquiry frustrates lawyers
• Eighteen months after a public inquiry was established in Nova Scotia to investigate the worst mass shooting in modern Canadian history, lawyers representing most of the 22 victims say they are troubled about its slow progress and lack of witness testimony.
“We're frustrated with the pace,” said Josh Bryson, a lawyer whose firm represents the family of Peter and Joy Bond, a retired couple in their 70s who were fatally shot in their home in Portapique, N.S., on the night of April 18, 2020.
With less than six months remaining before the inquiry's three commissioners are due to submit a final report to the federal and provincial governments, lawyer Tara Miller said the inquiry is running out of time, given the amount of evidence that has yet to be heard.
“We have a daunting calendar with a very tight timeline,” said Miller, who represents a relative of victim Kristen Beaton, a nurse and pregnant mother of one who was gunned down while sitting in her car in Debert, N.S., on April 19, 2020. “The calendar is jam-packed.”
WE FEEL WE NEED ACTUAL, LIVE WITNESSES.
So far, the inquiry has heard sworn testimony from 21 witnesses, but only nine have been RCMP officers involved in the 13-hour manhunt for the killer. More importantly, not a single senior Mountie has testified yet. The commission has committed to having senior officers testify, but no dates have been set.
“We feel we need actual, live witnesses,” Bryson said in a recent interview. “That's the best form of evidence, participants with their own voices, with their own points of view.”
As an example, Bryson cited testimony last month from firefighters Greg Muise and Darrell Currie, whose firehall in Onslow, N.S., was riddled with bullets when two RCMP officers mistook a man in the parking lot for the killer and opened fire.
“They testified about the harrowing details of their near-death encounter, where bullets were fired ... and they sheltered in place for 52 minutes ... fearing for their lives,” Bryson said. “That wasn't captured in the ... documents. Not at all. That's why we need witnesses.”
Unlike most public inquiries, the Mass Casualty Commission has focused much of its energy on producing a series of foundational documents, which are summaries of evidence collected during an independent investigation that started in October 2020 and is ongoing.