Contentious Lucki call not political interference, Nova Scotia mass shooting inquiry finds
Gun policy comments made by then-RCMP commissioner Brenda Lucki in a contentious call to Nova Scotia RCMP officers after the mass shooting in 2020 did not amount to political interference, the Mass Casualty Commission (MCC) final report concludes.
"Lucki's audio recorded remarks about the benefits to police of proposed firearms legislation were ill-timed and poorly expressed, but they were not partisan and they do not show that there had been attempted political interference," reads the commissioner's findings in the
Questions over whether anyone in the federal government interfered with the RCMP's investigation into the mass shooting became a dominating story in Ottawa in June of last year as part of the MCC alleged that the tragedy was being used by the Liberals to help push forward a new gun ban.
Central to the claims was that in a meeting several days after the killing rampage that left 22 people dead, Lucki allegedly expressed her disappointment with the Nova Scotia division's handling of press briefings, because she wanted them to release specific information on the firearms used by the perpetrator.
In handwritten notes, Nova Scotia RCMP superintendent Darren Campbell wrote that Lucki indicated she promised then-minister of public safety Bill Blair and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office that the RCMP would release this information, and that this was tied to pending gun control legislation intended to make officers and the public safer.
At the time, the Nova Scotia RCMP — which was under heavy scrutiny for its handling of the case from the start — said releasing additional information would jeopardize the ongoing investigation into the perpetrator’s access to firearms.
Days later, the prime minister announced a ban on 1,500 assault-style weapons, including weapons used in the Nova Scotia shooting. Moving forward on gun control measures was a pre-existing Liberal commitment, dating back to their 2019 election campaign.
At the time, Blair, Lucki and Trudeau all denied that they put any undue influence or pressure on the officers investigating Canada's worst mass shooting.
The MCC's findings appear to have come to the same conclusion but did determine, however, that the meeting "both reflected and contributed to the deterioration of the relationship between [Nova Scotia's] H Division and RCMP national headquarters after the mass casualty."
The report notes that Nova Scotia RCMP leadership and the communications personnel who were on the contentious call "experienced considerable personal and professional strain in the aftermath of the mass casualty," and at the same time national leadership including Lucki were "concerned by what they perceived to be inadequate internal briefing practices and poor public communications."
"The damage from this meeting did not resolve with time," the report states.
Lucki has said repeatedly that she regretted the way she approached the meeting, and the impact her approach had.
This controversy largely played out on Parliament Hill, seeing a House of Commons committee hold a series of hearings in search of a full airing of the facts around the allegations. It also became part of the commission's extensive hearings, and in October 2022, .
Though, in the context of the thousands of pages released Wednesday, this was a minor takeaway in a sea of findings on the RCMP's failures before, during, and after the tragedy.
One of the most significant recommendation's made by the commission is for the federal government to advance further gun control efforts, including reforming the classification system for firearms and prohibit "all semi-automatic handguns and all semi-automatic rifles and shotguns that discharge centre-fire ammunition and that are designed to accept detachable magazines with capacities of more than five rounds."
A Liberal proposal to further tighten gun laws to include “red flag†provisions and restrict legal access to handguns remains before Parliament, after a proposed amendment to enshrine in law a definition for "assault-style" weapons, became a point of contention.
Lucki retired as RCMP commissioner just two weeks before the report was released. The commission said it had secured a personal promise that she'd champion implementing the MCC's recommendations, and it is now expecting her successor to uphold that commitment.
On Thursday, interim RCMP commissioner Mike Duheme said while he can't change what happened, he's committed to seeing the national police force improve.
Reacting to the report's findings on Parliament Hill on Thursday, Blair said he thinks the report "correctly" concluded "that there was no partisanship, and certainly no interference in this case."
"I know that there had been some speculation and even some innuendo about that at the time, but quite frankly, I think that’s a distraction from the real issues," Blair said. "This is a tragic event for the families and the communities in which this took place, and it demands the best response from all orders of government, from the RCMP, from all of us."
IN DEPTH
Jagmeet Singh pulls NDP out of deal with Trudeau Liberals, takes aim at Poilievre Conservatives
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has pulled his party out of the supply-and-confidence agreement that had been helping keep Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority Liberals in power.
'Not the result we wanted': Trudeau responds after surprise Conservative byelection win in Liberal stronghold
Conservative candidate Don Stewart winning the closely-watched Toronto-St. Paul's federal byelection, and delivering a stunning upset to Justin Trudeau's candidate Leslie Church in the long-time Liberal riding, has sent political shockwaves through both parties.
'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½
BREAKING Israeli military says it has carried out a 'targeted strike' in Beirut
The Israeli military said it carried out a 'targeted strike' in the Lebanese capital Beirut on Friday.
The province's public security minister said he was "shocked" Thursday amid reports that a body believed to be that of a 14-year-old boy was found this week near a Hells Angels hideout near Quebec City.
Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.
Cognitive decline reduced by MIND diet, especially for women and Black people, study finds
Following the MIND diet for 10 years produced a small but significant decrease in the risk of developing thinking, concentration and memory problems, a new study found.
An Ontario man says it is 'unfair' to pay a $1,500 insurance surcharge because his four-year-old SUV is at a higher risk of being stolen.
The Montreal couple from Mexico and their three children facing deportation have received a temporary residence permit.
Federal firearm buyback program has cost $67M, still not collecting guns after 4 years
The federal firearm buyback program has cost taxpayers nearly $67.2 million since it was announced in 2020, but it still hasn't collected a single gun.
Lawyers say former Harrods boss Al Fayed was a 'monster' who abused women and girls
Lawyers representing dozens of women who say they were raped and sexually abused by Mohamed Al Fayed, the former boss of the famous London department store Harrods, said the case was akin to the crimes of sex offenders Jimmy Savile, Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein.
NEW Health data collected from Indigenous Peoples in Canada has a dark history. One Indigenous company is turning that around
Software company Mustimuhw Information, which develops medical records systems built on a foundation of Indigenous traditions and values, is allowing health providers to capture data informed by cultural practices.
Local Spotlight
They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.
A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.
Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.
The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.
It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.
A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.
David Krumholtz, known for roles like Bernard the Elf in The Santa Clause and physicist Isidor Rabi in Oppenheimer, has spent the latter part of his summer filming horror flick Altar in Winnipeg. He says Winnipeg is the most movie-savvy town he's ever been in.
Edmontonians can count themselves lucky to ever see one tiger salamander, let alone the thousands one local woman says recently descended on her childhood home.