Inquiry sends subpoena to Ottawa for outstanding documents

The commission looking into the Nova Scotia mass shooting of April, 2020, has once again used its subpoena power to order the federal government to hand over any remaining RCMP documents to its investigators, and says it’s still waiting for assurances that Ottawa is not withholding any further material.

Missing records have been a significant issue at the inquiry since the Department of Justice for months held back records from senior Nova Scotia RCMP officials that were critical of RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki. The Mass Casualty Commission, tasked with investigating the police response to a shooting in which a man impersonating a Mountie murdered 22 people, has demanded to know why Ottawa withheld documents after it subpoenaed the RCMP’s entire investigative file more than a year ago.

It filed its latest subpoena to the federal government on July 4, asking for all outstanding records, amid accusations from political opponents that Ottawa may be withholding more documents connected to a case it considers politically damaging.

The contents of some of the documents set off a firestorm in Ottawa and accusations that the federal government tried to interfere in the police investigation of the tragedy to further its gun-control agenda.

Last month, the internal records that had previously been withheld accused Commissioner Lucki of inserting politics into the police investigation.

In them, RCMP officials said the commissioner told her subordinates she promised the Prime Minister’s Office and former public safety minister Bill Blair that the Mounties would release details on the weapons used in the attack to help the Liberals’ pending gun-control legislation.

In notes describing a heated call with the commissioner on April 28, 2020, Nova Scotia RCMP Supt. Darren Campbell complained his boss was interfering with the integrity of the investigation for political reasons.

That led to calls for the commissioner’s resignation, and prompted MPs to arrange a legislative hearing into the matter.

Commissioner Lucki, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mr. Blair have denied there was political interference in the Nova Scotia investigation.

On Wednesday, the inquiry’s top lawyer said the commission still doesn’t know if other internal RCMP records related to the mass shooting are missing. The inquiry is once again using its subpoena power to demand Ottawa share everything it has related to the case.

“We continue to seek assurance that nothing else is being held back as per direction from subpoenas,” senior commission counsel Emily Hill said in a statement. “The commission remains committed to ensuring no stone is unturned in fulfilling our mandate of understanding why and how the mass casualty happened so that we can make recommendations to help keep communities safer in future.”

The commission’s lawyers are auditing the federal records shared so far to determine if they comply with the subpoenas, she said. If any requested records have not been shared, David Lametti, the Justice Minister and Attorney-General, must provide an explanation in writing, and those letters will be included as evidence and made public, Ms. Hill added.

Last week, the federal Department of Justice said it was still reviewing three pages of senior officers’ notes for “any necessary redactions” for reasons of cabinet confidentiality, solicitorclient privilege or potential personal information. Those notes had yet to be shared with the inquiry’s investigators more than 12 months after the commission first subpoenaed all the records.

Ian McLeod, a spokesperson for the Department of Justice, said the federal government has produced about 75,000 documents for the inquiry to date, and said the disclosure process is ongoing. He said holding documents back to review them for legal privilege is normal in any litigation or inquiry.

“Canada has produced all relevant and non-privileged parts of the RCMP H Division investigative file. This investigative file remains open as there may be new documents that will need to be reviewed and produced in future,” he said in an e-mail.

The commission received more than 2,400 pages of notes in late February and early March, after issuing subpoenas to the federal government. It was not told that an additional 35 pages of officers’ notes, including those alleging political interference, were held back, and didn’t know they existed until some of them were released to the inquiry on May 30, and the rest followed on June 24.

Stephen Ellis, the Conservative MP for the rural Nova Scotia riding where the mass shooting occurred, said there’s no excuse for any records to be withheld this long after they were requested. He said Mr. Lametti must explain that delay before the national security and emergency preparedness committee, which will question Commissioner Lucki later this month.

The RCMP commissioner is scheduled to testify at the public inquiry in Halifax in late August.

Mr. Ellis said Commissioner Lucki should not be a scapegoat for her political bosses. “I’m sure she shares some of the blame, but this doesn’t lie squarely on her shoulders,” he said. “That’s where ministerial accountability lies. If documents are being withheld for political gain, the buck has to stop somewhere.”

Mr. Lametti’s office has said the minister was not aware of any documents that had been withheld. The department says it is co-operating fully with the inquiry, and supports the work of the commission.

People in rural Nova Scotia want accountability for police actions in the mass shooting, Mr. Ellis said. The political controversy around the inquiry has hurt their belief in the process, and fuelled suspicions they won’t get transparency.

“This is retraumatizing for people,” the MP for Cumberland-Colchester said. “People want the truth about what happened. But the sad part is the faith in the Mass Casualty Commission, that trust, has been lost.”

The inquiry took another blow on Wednesday, when the lawyer for 14 families of victims said his clients are “extremely upset” by a decision to allow the gunman’s spouse to testify on July 15 without cross-examination. Michael Scott said the families are reconsidering their participation in the public inquiry as a result.

The inquiry said last week that Lisa Banfield would not have to answer direct questions from families of victims because she is a survivor of the murderer’s violence and had already been interviewed by inquiry investigators. The inquiry said its mandate requires it to be sensitive to the needs of people most directly affected by the killings.

Some lawyers for the families boycotted proceedings in May after the inquiry prevented crossexamination of two of the staff-sergeants who oversaw the early response to the mass shooting.

The inquiry took another blow on Wednesday, when the lawyer for 14 families of victims said his clients are ‘extremely upset’ by a decision to allow the gunman’s spouse to testify on July 15 without cross-examination.