The inquiry investigating the mass killing in Nova Scotia that claimed 22 lives last year has filed almost 50 subpoenas to compel the release of information from several organizations, including the RCMP.
Barbara McLean, the inquiry’s director of investigations, told a news conference today that all the agencies and institutions involved have been “very responsive.”
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McLean said the commission of inquiry, which started its work 11 months ago, has also used subpoenas to get information from the Canada Border Services Agency and “community services” that interacted with the perpetrator.
She did not provide details, but McLean’s disclosure reveals the commission is using its legal powers to obtain evidence that might otherwise be beyond its reach.
The provincial and federal governments had initially said the killings on April 18-19, 2020, would be the subject of a less rigorous review, but they changed course and agreed to a joint inquiry in July 2020 after the families of victims launched a series of protests.
The commission is scheduled to begin public hearings next month, and a final report is expected by November 2022.
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The Mounties have confirmed that on the night of April 18, 2020, a lone gunman set fire to several homes and killed 13 people in Portapique, N.S., before evading police while disguised as an RCMP officer and driving a vehicle that looked exactly like a police cruiser.
The next morning, he resumed killing people he knew and others at random before he was fatally shot by a Mountie at a gas station in Enfield, N.S., north of Halifax.
The killer drove more than 100 kilometres during the 13 hours he was at large.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2021.