Nova Scotia premier asks for moments of silence four years after mass shooting

HALIFAX — Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston is asking the province’s residents to pause for a moment of silence at noon on Thursday and Friday to mark the passing of four years since the worst mass shooting in modern Canadian history.

On the night of April 18, 2020, a gunman disguised as a Mountie killed 13 neighbours and strangers in Portapique, N.S., and managed to escape the small community on the Bay of Fundy as RCMP officers converged on the area.

The next day, the killer was driving a car that looked exactly like an RCMP cruiser when he fatally shot another nine people across northern and central Nova Scotia before he was shot dead by two Mounties at a gas station north of Halifax.

The premier says flags at the legislature and all other provincial buildings will fly at half-mast from sunrise on April 18 to sunset on April 19.

Houston’s statement includes instructions for those who may need emotional support on those days, saying that community resource navigators can be reached by dialing 211.

Just over a year ago, a public inquiry that investigated the mass shooting released a 3,000-page final report that offered 130 recommendations to prevent a similar tragedy and improve public safety.

“As each day, week and month passes since the events of April 18 and 19, we continue to reflect and remember those lives lost and honour the survivors and all those who have been impacted,” Houston said.

“As a province, we must continue to support each other and work together to make changes to prevent something like this from happening again.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 16, 2024.