HALIFAX — The commissioners of the mass shooting inquiry in Nova Scotia say they've sought to balance the desire of victims' families to keep public hearings on schedule and requests of unspecified "other participants" for more time to prepare.
A statement released today repeats that public proceedings initially set to begin last fall have been delayed until Feb. 22, with an interim report still expected by June 1 and a final report by Dec. 1.
Sandra McCulloch, a lawyer for the families, has said recently her clients are increasingly concerned by the series of delays, along with a shortage of information on what role they would be permitted to play.
The commission has been mandated to determine what happened during a gunman's 13-hour rampage that began in Portapique, N.S., on April 18, 2020 and resulted in the shooting deaths of 22 victims, including a pregnant woman.
Commission chairman Michael MacDonald and commissioners Leanne Fitch and Kim Stanton say in today's update that they have heard the family concerns about delays but noted that "other participants have been asking for more time to prepare for the proceedings."
The commissioner say they will "continue to balance these views in their planning," while fulfilling the mandate given them by the provincial and federal governments.
The document doesn't specify which participants were asking for more time, but Cpl. Chris Marshall, a spokesman for the Nova Scotia RCMP, said in an email that the RCMP was not among the participants that had asked for added time.
The commissioners also say the proceedings will commence at the Halifax Convention Centre, with a community viewing location in Truro, "dependent on COVID-19 protocols," and that people who attend in person will be required to show proof of vaccination.
The first three days are expected to include opening remarks and the release of a report on the structure of policing in Nova Scotia, while on Feb. 28 a series of documents outlining the way police responded in Portapique and how they set up a perimeter that night are expected to be released.
The commission website says as commission staff work with participants' lawyers on these documents, the documents' "titles and scope" may change.
The statement says the commissioners have been working with the participants' lawyers to go through draft documents that describe in detail what happened during the shootings of April 18 and 19, to identify any gaps or errors before the documents are made public.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 31, 2022.
Michael Tutton, The Canadian Press
