Arabnews24.ca:Tuesday 28 June 2022 02:59 PM: The former head of communications for the Nova Scotia RCMP said it was "appalling" to hear the commissioner of the Mounties bring up federal political pressures in a meeting days following the mass shooting.
New documents released Tuesday by the inquiry into the massacre on April 18-19, 2020, have accounts from three senior staff and officers stating that firearms used by the gunman were brought up in a meeting with RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki.
Lia Scanlan, former communications director for the Nova Scotia RCMP, wrote in a scathing email to Lucki that during the April 28, 2020, meeting she attended with the commissioner and senior Nova Scotia officers, Lucki informed the group of "the pressures and conversation with [then public safety] minister Blair," which the group clearly understood was related to upcoming gun control legislation.
"I remember a feeling of disgust as I realized this was the catalyst for the conversation," Scanlan said in her email dated April 14, 2021, about a year after the shooting.
"I could not believe what you, the leader of our organization, was saying and I was embarrassed to be privy to what was unfolding. It was appalling, unprofessional and extremely belittling."
On May 4, 2020, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a ban on some 1,500 makes and models of guns, including two of the guns used in the Nova Scotia mass shooting. At that time, police had not released the specific makes and models used in the attacks.
Scanlan's email echoes controversial notes released last week by Supt. Darren Campbell on the same topic.
Campbell's allegation that Lucki had made commitments to Trudeau and Blair in advance of new gun control legislation has ignited a political storm in Ottawa and resulted in an upcoming parliamentary hearing to address allegations of potential political interference.
Both Blair and Trudeau have denied doing so and stated the RCMP makes its own decisions about releasing information.
Besides Scanlan's letter, the commission also released handwritten notes from former assistant commissioner Lee Bergerman, who has since retired from the role she held as the commanding officer of the Nova Scotia RCMP, and Chief Supt. Chris Leather, who was the second-in-command in April 2020.
Bergerman's notes listed who attended the meeting and included the phrase, "angry about lack of detail about guns," but not who made the comment. Leather's notes said the meeting with Lucki was about "firearms used," and noted "adjustment to include firearms information into speaking notes." He also noted a topic that came up was concern about "information flow."
Neither Bergerman nor Leather's notes referenced what Lucki said about Blair.
Last week, Lucki also denied she interfered with the police investigation, but did not address the claim she wanted to release more information in advance of the Liberals' plan to introduce new gun control legislation in May 2020.
Campbell and Lucki are expected to be called as witnesses at the inquiry late next month. They've also been summoned to appear before the parliamentary hearing in Ottawa at the end of July.
