RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki he said in a 2020 public inquiry Nova Scotia mass shooting There have been no reforms to the nation’s police force in the more than 28 months since the deadly gun attack, despite a series of problems exposed by the Mounties’ response to the violence. In her testimony, Commissioner Lucki said she could not immediately answer questions about it why RCMP national headquarters had not acted on Nova Scotia RCMP requests for a formal review of the police response to the shooting. And he also didn’t immediately answer questions about why the force has not made any improvements – particularly in areas such as policy, rural staffing, equipment and cadet training – that could help prevent another tragedy. The commissioner said the Mounties are monitoring the investigation and trying to identify gaps in their policies and training, but have yet to enact any changes. While she said criticism of the RCMP’s actions in Nova Scotia has troubled her, she insisted the force’s leadership is taking the problems uncovered by the independent investigation seriously. “It’s not in a vacuum,” he said. “I know that prior to this incident there were many in Nova Scotia who had confidence in their RCMP. I know this incident has shattered that trust for many.” RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki calls the allegation of political interference overblown Former top Nova Scotia Mountie defends RCMP response to mass shooting Wednesday was the commissioner’s second day in Halifax giving evidence at the inquiry, known as the Mass Casualty Commission. Lawyers for the families of the gunman’s 22 victims pressed her on the RCMP’s lack of action after the shooting, the deadliest in Canadian history. “You haven’t made any meaningful change,” said attorney Josh Bryson, who is representing the families of Joy and Peter Bond, two of the victims. “You have missed valuable learning opportunities for those cadets who are now members. You could teach them your findings, the best practices for what came out of Portapique.” The investigation, now in its sixth month, found the RCMP were ill-prepared for the attack. The gunman, a dentist driving a replica RCMP patrol car, began killing in Portapique, NS, then spent 13 hours wreaking havoc in rural communities in the province before being killed by police. The RCMP response was plagued by poor technology, inaccurate assumptions about the killer’s whereabouts and delays in alerting the public. At one point, in a case of mistaken identity, two Mounties shot into a fire hall with people crouching inside. Officers complained of a confusing and contradictory chain of command. The RCMP have also been criticized for failing to prevent the shooting spree. Before the murders, police had received complaints about the man, Gabriel Wortman, for years, including allegations of domestic violence and reports that he had a collection of illegal guns. And yet no RCMP personnel have been disciplined as a result of the actions of the force before and during the killings. And the force has so far resisted calls to look into what went so horribly wrong during the manhunt. Near the end of the day’s testimony, the commissioner expressed his regret on behalf of the force. “I want to apologize for the RCMP, but in a way that we were not what you expected us to be and I don’t think we were what you wanted us to be or what we needed to be,” he said. . The commissioner said some of the challenges highlighted by the mass shooting in Nova Scotia raise broader questions about the future of rural policing in Canada. The RCMP provides contract policing in 169 communities, a service that receives a 30 per cent subsidy from Ottawa. The RCMP chief acknowledged that some communities have reconsidered their use of Mounties in the years since the mass shooting. The RCMP, he added, is being forced by financial constraints to review how they deploy police to rural areas. But she he said their policing remained “secondary”. “I think any municipality and province would be remiss not to review their policing services to make sure they’re meeting their needs,” he said. “We think a lot about this. … It’s often the case that we don’t have the resources to do the policing that’s being asked of us.” Mr. Bryson asked Commissioner Lucki why the RCMP had not implemented recommendations from previous reviews that required police investigators to attend crime scenes in a timely manner. The Bonds’ bodies were not discovered until 18 hours after the shooting began, which the lawyer said was a failure of basic RCMP policy. Police officers usually search for neighbors and secure crime scenes after major incidents. The commissioner noted that the RCMP has about 32,000 employees and said she could not personally review previous policy reforms, such as changes to how officers respond to mass shootings. He alleged that the RCMP failed to communicate lessons learned from previous cases to rank-and-file members. “In my role as commissioner, I look at things from the 10,000-foot level,” he said. “At my level, I’m not in the weeds on a lot of these questions.” On Tuesday, the first day of her testimony, the commissioner downplayed concerns about political interference in the mass shooting investigation. He was accused of pressuring Nova Scotia investigators to release details about the weapons used by the killer in order to bolster the federal government’s push for gun control. He said he wanted those details to be released for the sake of transparency and not because of a political agenda. During Wednesday’s testimony, he acknowledged that the RCMP had made mistakes in Nova Scotia. But he did not say the Mounties should have used the province’s Ready Alert system to alert the public that the killer was on the loose. At the time of the incident, he said, it was not RCMP practice to use the warning system for anything other than severe weather. Instead, the force used Twitter to warn the public about the killings. Commissioner Lucki said the Mounties should learn from their failures and apologized to those who were let down by the national force. “It can always be better,” he said. Jane Lenehan, a lawyer for the family of the gunman’s latest victim, Gina Goulet, asked the commissioner if she approved of the decision by Sergeant Andy O’Brien, now retired, to take control of the police response on April 18, 2020, even though he had just had four or five drinks of rum while off duty. “My expectation is that when people go to work, they are able to work and not over the legal limit,” Commissioner Lucki replied. The commissioner also defended Chief Inspector Chris Leather, who has been criticized for his decision during the manhunt to ignore an offer of help from Truro’s chief constable, who had officers nearby in a position to help. Commissioner Lucki said the RCMP commander had a lot going on and Truro police should have directed their bid elsewhere. “My first thought would be, ‘Oh my God, why are you calling me?’ said the commissioner. Ms. Lenehan suggested the RCMP’s bureaucratic management culture is why it has been slow to reform. The web-like structure of power “actually hinders efforts for accountability and efforts to change this organization that you lead,” he said. With a report by The Canadian Press The Morning Update and Afternoon Update newsletters are written by Globe editors, giving you a concise summary of the day’s most important headlines. Sign up today.
