Head of committee monitoring response to N.S. mass shooting satisfied with progress

HALIFAX — The head of a committee monitoring the response of police and governments to the inquiry into the 2020 Nova Scotia mass killing says she’s pleased with progress made so far, though she offered few details.

Three months ago, Myra Freeman, former lieutenant-governor of Nova Scotia, was appointed chair of the independent committee reviewing the implementation of recommendations from the inquiry into the mass shooting that killed 22 people. She is to present its first annual progress report in November.

“The committee has a duty to the memories of the Nova Scotians who died and to the families that are left behind and to the safety of our communities,” Freeman said during an update briefing Thursday.

The federal-provincial inquiry filed a 3,000-page report with 130 non-binding recommendations on community safety, police reform and public mental health, access to firearms, and gender-based violence.

That report, released in March 2023, offered a harsh critique of the RCMP’s actions in April 2020, when a man disguised as a Mountie and driving a replica RCMP cruiser fatally shot friends, neighbours and strangers during a 13-hour rampage through northern and central Nova Scotia. His killing spree began with a violent assault against his common-law spouse.

The report also found the RCMP missed important warning signs about the killer, were poorly organized and failed to promptly send alerts to the public until it was too late for some victims.

The commissioners leading the investigation into the mass shooting were told the RCMP has a history of ignoring reports that call for change. That’s why the inquiry’s commissioners called for the committee to be established, saying there had to be a mechanism to ensure recommendations are implemented.

Freeman told reporters Thursday she is satisfied that meaningful progress is being made in many areas, though she is limited in what she can share at this time due to the “confidential nature” of the committee’s work. The chair said because the recommendations are complex, it requires a “huge amount” of co-ordination to implement them all, adding that the process should not be rushed.

Charlene Bagley, who’s father Tom Bagley was killed by the shooter when rushing to a neighbour’s house that the gunman had set on fire, is one of the new family representatives who recently joined the committee.

Bagley said Thursday that while it’s early days, she does feel like positive changes will be made. “I’m hopeful anyway.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.

Lyndsay Armstrong, The Canadian Press