Mountie has ‘impression’ Ottawa interfered with N.S. shooting probe

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HALIFAX — A senior Mountie testified Thursday he believes political interference was behind RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki’s willpower to have police launch particulars on the weapons used within the Nova Scotia mass capturing.

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Chief Supt. Chris Leather-based made the remark on the public inquiry into the rampage that took 22 lives on April 18-19, 2020, throughout cross-examination by Tom MacDonald, a lawyer who represents two members of the family of victims.

MacDonald requested if Leather-based believed, after the officer participated in a teleconference with Lucki shortly after the shootings, that the commissioner’s feedback mirrored political interference within the felony probe underway on the time.

Leather-based responded, “That’s my impression,” and he mentioned he got here to that conclusion after gathering the info concerning the “lead-up” to the assembly with Lucki.

RCMP Chief Supt. Darren Campbell has alleged that in a gathering on April 28, 2020, Lucki mentioned she promised the Prime Minister’s Workplace that the data on the weapons can be launched in reference to the Liberal authorities’s “pending gun management laws.”

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The federal government was within the midst of drafting recent gun management measures to scale back entry to semi-automatic weapons within the days following the mass capturing. Campbell and Leather-based each testified this week that releasing the data on the weapons would have interfered with the continued investigation into who supplied the killer with the semi-automatic weapons.

Leather-based, who’s the pinnacle of felony operations in Nova Scotia, testified on Wednesday that he had acquired a name on the night of April 22 — three days after the mass capturing — from Lucki and that she had requested him to ship her particulars concerning the weapons. The superintendent has mentioned {that a} listing of weapons he had despatched to Lucki was for inside functions solely.

Leather-based’s assertion concerning the April 22 name with Lucki, and a couple of collection of emails that adopted, didn’t come up in a July 6 interview he gave to inquiry attorneys.

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Throughout cross-examination Thursday by Michael Scott — a lawyer who represents the vast majority of the victims’ households — Leather-based mentioned he hadn’t mentioned the decision or the emails on July 6 as a result of attorneys with the federal Division of Justice had steered he take “a reactive posture.”

“The recommendation I acquired was to not proactively disclose the dialog (with Lucki) and the emails main as much as the assembly on April 28, (2020),” Leather-based testified.

“I knew from my notes and emails I had ready and submitted that it was clearly related to what would develop into the notorious cellphone name (assembly) of April 28 … and was troubled by that and wished their recommendation and was suggested to take a reactive posture.”

Lori Ward, a lawyer for the federal Justice Division and the RCMP, instructed commissioners Thursday she believed there had been a “misunderstanding” from Leather-based about that recommendation. She mentioned she and one other federal lawyer had understood that Leather-based had a doc related to the April 28, 2020, assembly with Lucki that they wanted to evaluation as a result of it would include privileged info.

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Lucki has denied interfering within the police investigation. She testified Monday earlier than a Home of Commons committee that she didn’t recall telling then-public security minister Invoice Blair that she had “promised” to have the main points on the weapons launched. She mentioned she remembered utilizing completely different phrases with Blair.

Leather-based additionally confronted questions from attorneys representing victims’ households about his pressure’s poor relationship with different police forces earlier than the mass capturing, and within the two years since then.

Truro police Chief Dave MacNeil testified in Might that on the evening of the mass capturing, the data coming from RCMP had been “very sporadic” and that Truro police “didn’t actually have a tasking.”

Leather-based mentioned it wasn’t possible to have shut collaboration with the Truro police throughout a prolonged and complicated emergency, as a result of the 2 forces hadn’t educated collectively for mass capturing eventualities.

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Nonetheless, lawyer Josh Bryson requested Leather-based why the RCMP didn’t at the least name on municipal police forces to help in canvassing the group of Portapique, N.S., on April 19, 2020, to see if there have been extra victims. It took the RCMP near 18 hours from the beginning of the mass capturing to find 5 of the victims’ our bodies.

The officer agreed with Jane Lenehan, a lawyer who represents the household of sufferer Gina Goulet, that in his tenure, relations with municipal police forces had deteriorated, and that it was important to the protection of Nova Scotians that this be remedied.

Leather-based mentioned he was hopeful a significant change in administration of Nova Scotia RCMP would assist lower tensions.

He mentioned he’s being transferred to nationwide headquarters in August to tackle a brand new function, whereas the assistant commissioner on the time, Lee Bergerman, has retired, and Chief Supt. Darren Campbell was lately transferred to New Brunswick.