Canada mass shooting inquiry urges police reform, gun regulations

A public inquiry into the worst mass shooting in Canada’s history has revealed widespread shortcomings in how federal police responded to the deadly 2020 attack, calling for police reform, better public communication and stricter safety regulations for weapons.

In a seven-part report released Thursday, the Mass Casualty Commission says the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) missed red flags in the years leading up to the fatal disaster in the eastern province of Nova Scotia.

In April 2020, 51-year-old Gabriel Wortman, disguised in a police uniform and driving a fake police car, shot and killed 22 people during a 13-hour attack.

Wortman was killed by police at a gas station about 56 miles from the scene of his first murders in the small, rural community of Portapique.

“There were many warning signs of the perpetrator’s violence and missed opportunities to intervene in the years before the mass casualty,” the commissioners wrote in an opening statement to their report, which totals more than 3,000 pages.

“There were also gaps and errors in the response to the critical mass casualty incident as it unfolded on April 18 and 19, 2020. In addition, there were breakdowns in communication with the public during and in the aftermath of the mass casualty.”

The committee recommended increasing transparency and accountability for RCMP oversight, improving response capabilities to critical incidents and paying more attention to day-to-day policing practices.

It also called for a national overhaul of the public alert system and an increase in the availability of mental health services.

In the aftermath of the attack, Canadian police were criticized for not using a provincial alert system to warn people that a gunman was on the loose – a measure that residents say could have prevented a number of deaths.

Rights advocates also criticized the police for not responding appropriately to gender-based violence after it was revealed that Wortman had a long history of abuse towards his spouse.

“We must accept that those who commit mass casualties often have an unaddressed history of violence based on gender, intimate partners or family – meaning that tackling these forms of violence must be an urgent priority,” the commission wrote in its report.

After revealing a litany of shortcomings, the inquiry called for another external review of the RCMP.

It said the federal public security minister should then set priorities for the police, “maintain those duties appropriate to a federal police service and determine what responsibilities are better allocated to other agencies”.

“This may entail a reconfiguration of policing in Canada and a new approach to federal financial assistance for provincial and municipal police departments,” the report said.

The Mass Casualty Commission’s final report was released today. We will never forget the Nova Scotians whose lives were taken nearly three years ago, and we will continue to support those whose lives have been forever changed.

— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) March 30, 2023

The investigation also found that Wortman illegally owned at least five firearms, three of which had been smuggled into Canada from the United States, which could have been prevented with better police oversight and coordination among law enforcement agencies.

“There is a lack of community knowledge about the Canadian firearms regime. It is influenced by the American discourse that revolves around the right to bear arms that does not exist in our constitutional and legal structure,” the commission said.

Weeks after the Nova Scotia disaster, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a ban on more than 1,500 models and variants of “assault-style” firearms nationwide. Last year, Ottawa also introduced legislation to freeze small arms possession.

On Thursday, the commission urged federal, provincial and territorial governments to “pass legislation confirming that gun ownership is a conditional privilege.”

It also recommended that possession of ammunition and purchase of firearms magazines require a license and that the federal government place limits on ammunition stockpiling.

“A priority should be given to reducing access to the most dangerous firearms and high-capacity ammunition, given the risks they pose and the fact that they do not serve any hunting or sporting purpose,” the report said.

In a rackTrudeau said his administration would “carefully review and respond to the recommendations of the study, which fall under federal jurisdiction.”

“We remain strongly committed to working with affected people and communities to make our communities safer,” said the prime minister.

“We will never forget the 22 people, including a woman expecting a child, whose lives were cut short on one of the darkest days in Canadian history. I hope today’s report is one of many steps to ensure that a tragedy like this never happens again.”

That was echoed by Scott McLeod, victim Sean McLeod’s brother.

“Nothing will bring my brother or any of the other people back into this terrible ordeal,” he said. “If this report makes a positive change across the country, it will be appreciated, I know, by families.”