N.S. can hold inquiry

Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil is coming under increasing pressure to commit to an inquiry into the mass murders that began in the community of Portapique in his province.

Thirty Dalhousie law professors wrote an open letter last week arguing that an inquiry is needed and that the province has the authority to go ahead on its own. Former Nova Scotia medical examiner John Butt also told SaltWire Network that an inquiry is essential and the province should take the lead.

But McNeil says many of the issues at play are under federal jurisdiction and that Ottawa should take the lead on calling an inquiry. He said provincial Justice Minister Mark Furey, a former RCMP officer, has been in contact with federal Public Safety Minister Bill Blair on the case.

Ideally, both levels of government would collaborate on an inquiry. Nova Scotians and Canadians would be impressed and relieved to see Ottawa and the province work together to fix what went wrong, sharing costs, resources and a common purpose.

Clearly, Nova Scotia can, if it wishes, call an inquiry on its own. The Public Inquiries Act gives it broad powers to have an inquiry on “any public matter in relation to which the legislature may make laws.” Policing is under provincial jurisdiction.

In addition, the Fatality Investigations Act allows the province’s chief medical examiner to recommend an inquiry into a death or deaths. The Desmond Inquiry, currently underway in Nova Scotia, is a fatality inquiry looking into matters that cross into federal jurisdiction.

The Marshall inquiry of 1989, also a Nova Scotia provincial inquiry into the miscarriage of justice that wrongly convicted Donald Marshall of murder, involved policing and justice issues with federal implications.

So it is possible to design an inquiry that looks into both provincial and federal matters.

No one denies an inquiry is needed. There is a consensus among all those involved in this debate that Nova Scotians — and all Canadians — need a thorough airing of the many issues raised.

As Butt says, “the Canadian nature understands the need for a public inquiry and that is in the interest of public information, public protection and preventing something like this from happening again.”

However, the RCMP are months away from completing their investigation of what might be the most complex murder case in Canadian history.

We must be patient. To get it right, we must take it one step at a time.

Let the RCMP do their job. After the investigation is finished, legal experts can sift through their work to see what further questions need airing out.

Then the provincial and federal governments can talk about how an inquiry might shed more light.