Nova Scotia mass shooting: Blair will ‘of course’ stay in cabinet amid interference claims

As allegations swirl that Bill Blair may have interfered politically with the RCMP in the wake of the Nova Scotia mass shooting, the emergency preparedness minister says he will “of course” stay in cabinet.

Two letters have now emerged that allege Blair pushed RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki to demand Nova Scotia RCMP release details about the firearms used during the shooting spree, which took 22 people’s lives on April 18, 2020.

They allege the pressure was tied to the Liberal government’s goals of passing firearms legislation — claims that Blair vigorously denied in a Wednesday press conference.

“I, and my government, did not give any operational direction or interfere in any way with the investigation or the police response,” Blair said.

“At no time did I cross that line.”

A letter from RCMP communications manager Lia Scanlan, which was made public on Tuesday, alleges that Lucki described direct pressure from Blair to release firearm details in the days after the Nova Scotia mass shooting.

The letter claims the RCMP’s leader focused on the Liberal government’s agenda of passing firearms legislation during the hastily arranged meeting.

According to Scanlan, who was the strategic communications director at the time of the shootings, Lucki had come on the line incensed that the Halifax staff hadn’t released the gun details, suggesting they had let down surviving children whose parents were killed in Portapique, N.S.

“It was appalling, inappropriate, unprofessional and extremely belittling,” Scanlan wrote.

1:25
Nova Scotia mass shooting inquiry says RCMP held back crucial notes for months

It isn’t the first allegation of political pressure relating to the shooting.

Handwritten notes from Supt. Darren Campbell, which were released Monday, describe the RCMP worrying the investigation might be jeopardized if they released the full details about the two rifles and two pistols used in the rampage.

Campbell’s notes go on to allege that Lucki, during an April 28, 2020 meeting, said she had promised the federal Public Safety Department and the Prime Minister’s Office information on the shooter’s guns would be released — because it was “tied to pending gun control legislation.”

While Lucki confirmed on Tuesday that she had indeed received a letter from an RCMP employee about this contentious meeting, she denied trying “to interfere in the ongoing investigation.”

“Nor did I feel any political pressure to do so,” she added in an emailed statement sent to The Canadian Press.

“It was an extremely difficult time and I did express frustration with the flow of information.”

0:52
Trudeau denies his government interfered in Nova Scotia shooting probe: ‘Absolutely not’

Less than two weeks after the massacre, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a ban on 1,500 makes and models of “assault-style firearms” — including some used by the Nova Scotia shooter.

This Order in Council had been in the works for “several months,” Blair said on Wednesday.

“The RCMP, of course, were involved in those discussions from the outset because they are responsible for administrating the Canadian Firearms Program,” he added.

All of the shooter’s weapons, however, were owned illegally. An April report from the Mass Casualty Commission revealed that many of the weapons were purchased in the United States, and the shooter did not have a firearms licence.

Meanwhile, the RCMP has faced a firestorm of criticism over their handling of communications both during and after the Nova Scotia mass shooting.

Just before midnight on the day of the shooting, the Nova Scotia RCMP fired out a tweet warning residents in Portapique about a “firearms complaint” and asking them to stay indoors. It did not specify that there was an active shooter.

Despite a series of 911 calls and eyewitness accounts that night, the RCMP also failed to inform the public that the perpetrator was driving a replica police cruiser until the following day.

After sending the tweet, Cpl. Lisa Croteau — the only communications team member on call that weekend — said she believes she fell asleep.

Scanlan, who told the inquiry she is “always available” to respond to a crisis, was also asleep that night.

Croteau told investigators she tried calling Scanlan several times, but got her voicemail. She also said she tried calling Scanlan’s second in command, Cindy Bayers, but got her voicemail, too.

While the officers slept, social media lit up with word of the killings — and many Nova Scotians started to panic. Some of the victims’ families begged police for details about their loved ones, to no avail.

“We see on the part of the RCMP … a lack of willingness to provide basic facts and other information the public is entitled to receive,” said Nova Scotia lawyer Adam Rodgers.

1:45
Bill Blair grilled over possible interference into RCMP investigation of Nova Scotia mass shooting

This secretive attitude was extended to the media, too.

Scanlan, who was responsible for the force’s post-shooting communications strategy, said the media’s handling of the shooting left her “disgusted.”

Within days of the shooting, she told investigators that she turned her office into “a no news zone.”

Blair referenced these communication issues during his press conference on Wednesday.

“We did hear, very clearly, concerns from the people of Nova Scotia,” he said.

“It’s one of the reasons why, within the mandate of the Mass Casualty Commission, we asked (them) to examine very specifically the communications form the RCMP to the people of Nova Scotia during this event and following its aftermath.”

In a statement released last week, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh called allegations that the government might have pushed Lucki to interfere with the mass shooting probe “very disturbing.”

He called for an investigation.

“These allegations suggest that pressure from the government risked undermining the investigation into the worst mass shooting in Canadian history for their own political agenda,” he wrote.

“Canadians have to be able to have trust in their institutions. The idea that this government  — that any government — would use this horrific act of mass murder to gain support for their gun policy is completely unacceptable.”

A number of Conservative MPs also released a joint statement highlighting their concerns about the claims.

“The separation of political institutions from our law enforcement is crucial. Our police need to be able to do their important work without politicians making attempts to steer or influence them in any way,” they wrote in the June 22 statement.

The allegations are “serious and shocking,” they added, and “deserve answers.”

“That is why we want an immediate investigation in to the matter.”

The public inquiry into the mass shooting, meanwhile, is ongoing.

— with files from Global News’ Brian Hill and Sean Boynton, The Canadian Press