HALIFAX –
A senior Mountie testified Thursday that he believes political considerations are behind RCMP Commissioner Brenda Luckey’s determination to get police to release details about the weapons used in a mass shooting in Nova Scotia.
Chief Lt. Chris Leder made the comments at the public inquiry into the atrocity that claimed 22 lives on April 18-19, 2020, during cross-examination by Tom Macdonald, a lawyer representing two members of the victims’ families.
MacDonald asked if Leder believed, after the officer participated in a teleconference with Luckey shortly after the shootings, that the commissioner’s comments reflected political interference in the criminal investigation being conducted at the time.
The skin replied, “That’s my impression,” and he said he came to that conclusion after gathering the facts about the “preliminary” encounter with Lucky.
RCMP Assistant Chief Darren Campbell claims that during a meeting on April 28, 2020, Luckey said she had promised the Prime Minister’s Office that information about the weapons would be released in connection with “upcoming gun control legislation ‘ of the Liberal government.
The government was in the midst of drafting new gun control measures to reduce access to semi-automatic weapons in the days after the mass shooting. Campbell and Leder testified this week that releasing information about the weapons would interfere with the ongoing investigation into who provided the killer with the semiautomatic weapons.
Leder, who is Nova Scotia’s head of criminal operations, testified Wednesday that he received a call on the evening of April 22 – three days after the mass shooting – from Luckey asking him to send her details about the weapons. The chief said a list of weapons he sent Lucky was for internal use only.
Leder’s statement about the April 22 conversation with Luckey and a series of emails that followed did not appear in a July 6 interview he gave to investigating attorneys.
Under cross-examination Thursday by Michael Scott — a lawyer representing most of the victims’ families — Leder said he did not discuss the July 6 call or emails because federal Justice Department lawyers had suggested he take a “reactive pose”.
“The advice I received was not to proactively disclose the conversation (with Lucky) and the emails leading up to the April 28th (2020) meeting,” Leather testified.
“I knew from my notes and emails that I had prepared and sent that this was obviously related to what would become the infamous April 28 phone call (meeting) and I was disturbed by that and wanted their advice and was advised to take reactive position. “
Lori Ward, a lawyer for the federal Department of Justice and the RCMP, told commissioners Thursday that she believes there was a “misunderstanding” on Leather’s part about that advice. She said she and another federal attorney have learned that Leder has a document related to the April 28, 2020, meeting with Luckey that they need to review because it may contain privileged information.
Lucky denied interfering in the police investigation. She testified to a House of Commons committee on Monday that she did not recall telling then public safety minister Bill Blair that she had “promised” to reveal the details of the weapons. She said she remembers using different words with Blair.
Leder also faced questions from lawyers representing the victims’ families about his department’s poor relationship with other police forces before the mass shooting and in the two years since.
Truro Police Chief Dave McNeill testified in May that on the night of the mass shooting, information coming from the RCMP was “very sporadic” and that Truro police “were not really tasked.”
Leder said it was not possible to work closely with Truro police during a prolonged and complex emergency because the two forces had not trained together for mass shooting scenarios.
However, lawyer Josh Bryson asked Leather why the RCMP didn’t at least call in the municipal police force to help search the community of Portapique, NS, on April 19, 2020, to see if there were more victims. It took RCMP nearly 18 hours from the start of the mass shooting to recover five of the victims’ bodies.
The officer agreed with Jane Lenehan, a lawyer representing the family of victim Gina Goulet, that relations with the municipal police force had deteriorated during his tenure and that it was essential to the safety of Nova Scotians that it be repaired.
Leder said he hopes a major change in the management of the RCMP in Nova Scotia will help ease tensions.
He said he will be transferred to national headquarters in August to take on a new role while the assistant commissioner at the time, Lee Bergerman, retires and Ch. Darren Campbell recently relocated to New Brunswick.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on July 28, 2022.
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