Three key RCMP officials involved in coordinating the reaction to the mass shootings in Nova Scotia will not testify in person during the public investigation into the tragedy.
The officers – through their union and the federal government – called for alternative ways to testify before the commission investigating the April 18 and 19 April 2020 massacres.
The National Police Federation (NPF) and the Attorney General of Canada have requested a sergeant. Andy O’Brien and Staff Sergeant. Brian Rehill provides his evidence with an affidavit and that the staff sergeant. Al-Karol testified in person, but only as an adviser to the commission.
The Commission on Mass Victims, which is leading the investigation, released its response to the demands on Tuesday, saying Rehill and O’Brien would testify through pre-recorded video interviews on May 30 and 31.
Only the commission’s lawyers or the commissioners themselves will ask the staff direct questions. Victims ‘families’ lawyers can ask questions.
Carol will testify live on Thursday via Zoom and can be questioned by all lawyers.
The mass shooting was clearly traumatic and difficult for anyone involved, Michael Scott, a Patterson Law lawyer, told CBC Mainstreet recently.
Scott’s company represents more than a dozen families of the victims of the shooting.
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Scott said their clients’ concern was that the process of accommodating the inquiry was not being used in good faith – rather to “obstruct” testimony and isolate the RCMP and other agencies from disturbing information.
“It simply came to our notice then. “We’re here to get to the truth, whether it’s convenient or inconvenient,” Scott said.
The investigation has already heard that Rehil, who was a risk manager on duty at the Bible Hill Operations Communication Center (OCC) on the night of April 18, 2020, was responsible for the first few hours of the mass shooting to staff sergeant. Jeff West took over as commander of critical incidents after 1 a.m. on April 19.
Rehill kept in touch with 911 dispatchers, spoke directly to witnesses such as Kate MacDonald, who was shot by the shooter, and made the first decisions to establish detention and where the first responders should go.
O’Brien was the Ops NCO for Colchester County at the time and helped coordinate the early response from home.
Twenty-two people died on April 18 and 19, 2020. Top row left: Gina Gulet, Dawn Gulenchin, Jolin Oliver, Frank Gulenchin, Sean McLeod, Alana Jenkins. Second row: John Hall, Lisa McCully, Joey Weber, Heidi Stevenson, Heather O’Brien and Jamie Blair. Third row from the top: Kristen Beaton, Lillian Campbell, Joan Thomas, Peter Bond, Tom Bagley and Greg Blair. Bottom line: Emily Tuck, Joy Bond, Corey Ellison and Aaron Tuck. (CBC)
Carol worked with fellow sergeants Adi McCallum and Steve Halliday in the Biblical Hill Squad late on April 18, before moving to the makeshift command post in the Great Village in the early hours of April 19.
Video interviews strike the “right balance”
“We have focused on what we consider to be the right balance to allow the public to hear and understand this evidence in a meaningful way, while minimizing the potential harm to witnesses,” the Mass Victims Commission said in a statement. .
Given the health information of the employees, which is private, the commission’s lawyers said that allowing them to testify “in a way that reduces the stress and time pressure resulting from giving oral testimony in court proceedings” would facilitate their answers and will provide “better evidence”
Scott said the accommodation request mechanism is not uncommon: in court cases, witnesses may have the opportunity to testify behind a screen or with a support person.
But he said the demands made by the Attorney General and the NPF on behalf of these officials were indeed restrictions.
Michael Scott is a lawyer with Patterson Law, a firm representing more than a dozen families of Portapique victims. (CBC)
While Scott said participants’ advisors like him and his Patterson colleagues “technically” have a say in the accommodation process and can comment on specific requests, they have no idea why each one was requested, so it’s hard to say. whether or not they are reasonable.
Scott said the setting approved for Rachel and O’Brien, where officials are questioned only by commission attorneys with statements from family members, was not acceptable.
“If that’s the way we’re going to deal with these witnesses, there’s really no point in calling them in at all,” Scott said.
“The evidence has not been examined… to a large extent this is not a very useful process.”
He added that this approach, compared to the hours spent on technical witnesses and evidence of other people who did not hold command positions, undermines the credibility of the investigation.
Scott said that although he knew he was entering the investigation, that the material would be difficult, he “would never have expected” that the biggest challenges would be trying to do the work he was asked to do, such as fighting for hearing witnesses.
Asked about the staffing decision, an NPF spokesman said on Tuesday that the union “will not make any public comments on legal issues”.
The investigation resumed on Wednesday in Truro.
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