Spouse to testify at mass shooting inquiry
The inquiry into Canada’s worst mass killing plans to hear from the common-law wife of the gunman and from the first three RCMP officers to arrive on the scene.
The inquiry reviewing the shooting rampage that left 22 victims dead in northern Nova Scotia nearly two years ago released a longawaited list of witnesses Wednesday.
Headlining the list was Lisa Banfield, who had previously refused the Mass Casualty Commission’s invitations to an interview, citing an ongoing legal case in which she is charged with supplying gunman Gabriel Wortman with ammunition used in the killings.
But that hurdle was cleared on Wednesday, when the Crown referred the case to the Restorative Justice Program, an “alternate process where people charged with offences can take responsibility and be held accountable.” Police have previously said Banfield had no advance knowledge of how the ammunition would eventually be used. If she completes the program, the charges against her will be withdrawn.
Banfield was scheduled to speak with the commission — the first in a series of interviews — Wednesday afternoon. The interviews will not be public. Commission chair Michael Macdonald said he also expected to subpoena Banfield to testify under oath later.
“Counsel for the participant families did not have to convince us that Ms. Banfield has important evidence to give regarding the Portapique foundational documents,” said Macdonald. “It has never been a matter of if the commission wants to hear from the Lisa Banfield but rather how and when we could best do so.”
Banfield has been described as Wortman’s first victim. She’s told police he assaulted her on the couple’s 19th anniversary before beginning his rampage. Meanwhile, Macdonald also said the commission would subpoena the first three RCMP officers on the scene.