Families of N.S. mass shooting victims say province failed to manage their mental health needs

In the weeks and months following the Nova Scotia mass killing on April 18 and 19, 2020, many families of the victims who died say they struggled to get basic mental health services.

They say there were either none available or the proper services weren't communicated by Department of Justice Victim Services.

Heart-wrenching accounts from grieving family members were provided to the three commissioners leading the joint federal-provincial public inquiry in mid-September. The Mass Casualty Commission is investigating the causes and circumstances of the rampage that saw a lone gunman masquerading as a police officer killed 22 people including a pregnant woman.

Transcripts of those meetings with victims' families were released publicly on Thursday.

"You never expect a mass casualty to happen but it does," said Darcy Dobson, who lost her mother, Heather O'Brien.

"We're living proof that there was nobody who knew how to handle the mass of mental health issues that came with it."

Dobson and her sister, Katie Devine, represented their large family, consisting of eight adult children, their father and multiple spouses, at their session in Truro on Sept. 17. They took the opportunity to describe how Victim Services in Nova Scotia needs to do better.

"We were never referred to Victim Services," said Dobson. "A distant family member suggested we call ourselves, and we did. Some of our family members, immediate family members, have never been contacted by Victim Services, and it's been two and a half years."

She said the program needs more funding, as well as better partnerships with psychologists and psychiatrists who are equipped to deal with a mass casualty.

For Devine, the experience was even more personal. At the time, she said she worked for Nova Scotia Health in a position paid for by Mental Health and Addictions.

"The fact that they needed me to get paperwork signed by a therapist that I could not find, or I had to come back to work, is just beyond me," she told the commissioners.

"All they have to do is open a newspaper to know who I am and what happened to me. I shouldn't have to beg for time off work."

Devine said she eventually left that job as she struggled to secure therapy. Her original psychologist charged more than the approved amount, forcing Devine to seek care elsewhere.

"So then I was left for months looking for another therapist that would be paid through Victim Services 'cause I couldn't afford to do it myself," Devine said. "And Victim Services didn't even have to find that therapist. They gave me a list to go through, and I had to make phone calls."