Nova Scotia mass shooting: progress report released on response to public inquiry

The federal-provincial inquiry submitted a final report last year that included 130 non-binding recommendations for change, half of which focus on policing.

An independent committee released today its first report on how governments and the RCMP are responding to the inquiry into the 2020 mass shooting in Nova Scotia that claimed 22 lives.

The federal-provincial inquiry, known as the Mass Casualty Commission, submitted a final report last year that included 130 non-binding recommendations for change, half of which focus on policing.

The document released today by the 16-member Progress Monitoring Committee includes a thorough accounting of the actions taken by the federal and Nova Scotia governments and the RCMP.

Content regarding the Mounties, however, largely reflects what the police force had to say in March when it released its own progress report in Nova Scotia.

Shortly after the monitoring committee met for the first time last September, chairwoman Linda Lee Oland said the group can’t force the Mounties and government officials to do anything.

She said the public will play a key role in ensuring the inquiry’s recommendations do not gather dust.

The inquiry’s final report found the RCMP missed warning signs about the killer, including reports of domestic violence, possession of illegal firearms and repeated run-ins with the law — and it also found the Mounties were poorly organized and failed to promptly send alerts to the public until it was too late for some victims.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 1, 2024.