RCMP Commissioner Accused of Interfering with Nova Scotia Mass Shooting Investigation to Aid Liberal Government Gun Control Agenda

RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki pressed the RCMP to reveal the weapons used in the Nova Scotia mass shooting to help promote the Liberal government’s gun control legislation, the public inquiry into the shootings said. April 2020 murders.

The Mass Victims Commission released supporting documents and notes Tuesday involving a conversation between Commissioner Lucki and RCMP officers overseeing the Nova Scotia investigation into the killing of 22 people by a lone gunman.

In an April 28 conference call that took place 10 days after the worst mass shooting in Canadian history, Commissioner Lucki rebuked senior commanders for withholding information about the weapons used in the attack, allegedly telling them those details could be exploited. for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s gun. – schedule control.

The revelations led opposition parliamentarians to accuse the federal government of interfering in a criminal investigation for political purposes.

Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair, who was public safety minister at the time, denied on Tuesday that any political direction was given to the RCMP commissioner. The Prime Minister’s Office said Blair was speaking on behalf of the government.

In a statement Tuesday night, Commissioner Lucki said she did not interfere with the investigation. However, she did not address the alleged political interference of Mr. Blair and the PMO and only commented on his interaction with the Nova Scotia RCMP.

In notes sent to the inquiry, RCMP Superintendent Darren Campbell described how he was reprimanded extensively by the commissioner. He said she was upset that he had “promised the Minister of Public Security and the Prime Minister’s Office” that the RCMP would reveal details about the type of firearms used by the gunman.

superintendent Campbell’s notes make clear that he was concerned that politics might interfere with a cross-border police investigation.

His notes say that Commissioner Lucki explained that the Nova Scotia RCMP needed to understand that the release of the information “was tied to pending gun control legislation that would make officers and the public safer through this legislation.” . However, the gunman never had a firearms license and smuggled three weapons into Canada from Maine.

“The Commissioner accused us (me) of disrespecting him by not following his instructions. I was and still am confused about this,” he wrote. “I said we couldn’t because doing so would jeopardize ongoing efforts to advance the US side of the case, as well as the Canadian components of the investigation. Those are facts and I stand by them.”

Commissioner Lucki was appointed the country’s top law enforcement officer by the Prime Minister in June 2018.

“I did not interfere with the ongoing investigations into the largest mass shooting in Canadian history,” he wrote in his statement, saying it is “standard procedure” for the RCMP high command to share information and briefings with the minister overseeing the RCMP.

However, Commissioner Lucki said she mishandled discussions with the commanders in charge of the investigation.

“It was a tense discussion and I am sorry for the way I approached the meeting and the impact it had on those in attendance. My need for information should have been better weighed against the seriousness of the circumstances they were facing,” he said.

Under questioning in the House of Commons, Blair insisted that the government had never tried to use mass shootings to further its gun control agenda.

“I am very pleased to confirm that no one in the Prime Minister’s Office or Public Security office exerted any pressure or direction on the RCMP Commissioner,” he said.

Conservative public safety critic Raquel Dancho said Canadians should not accept Blair’s assurances that there was no political interference.

“We have seen this before during the SNC-Lavalin scandal, where the Trudeau government also denied any wrongdoing. This is a pattern. We need to get to the bottom of this and investigate it immediately,” he said.

NDP leader Jagmeet Singh also called for a “full investigation” into the matter.

“Allegations that the Prime Minister’s office or the Public Security Minister’s office ordered RCMP Commissioner Lucki to interfere with an ongoing police investigation are very worrying,” Mr. Singh said in a statement.

“The idea that this government, any government, would use this horrific act of mass murder to gain support for its gun policy is completely unacceptable. Not only is this inappropriate, it fuels cynicism about our democracy and the elected officials who participate in it.”

Mr. Singh said any investigation into the matter should not be used to “make political points” but to get answers for the victims.

Specific details about the weapons used by the shooter were not shared at the five news conferences that took place the week after the mass shooting. The RCMP had recovered several firearms, including two semi-automatic rifles, from the stolen car the gunman was driving when he was shot dead by two mounted policemen at a gas station north of Halifax on April 19, 2020.

In May 2020, a month after the mass shooting, the Trudeau government introduced Bill C-21, which included a nationwide freeze on the sale, purchase or transfer of firearms within Canada and the entry of firearms. newly acquired fire to the country.

The RCMP investigation later learned that the killer paid an American acquaintance named Neil Gallivan to purchase an assault-style rifle at a 2019 gun show in Houlton, Maine, and took two illegal handguns from another American friend named Sean talk.

For subscribers: Get exclusive political news and analysis by subscribing to the policy brief.