Mass Casualty Commission shares summer proceedings schedule

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Jun 30, 2022, 11:17 ET

TRURO, NS and HALIFAX, NS, June 30, 2022 /CNW/ - Today, the Mass Casualty Commission ("the Commission") shared its summer proceedings schedule, including anticipated witnesses set to appear in July and August. The proceedings calendar can be found on the Commission website.

Public proceedings began in February of this year with hearings focused on the Commission's Phase 1 work to understand what happened on April 18 and 19, 2020. This spring, the Commission began its Phase 2 work to explore how and why the mass casualty happened and the related context and issues, including topics such as police actions, communications with the public during and after the event and access to firearms. The work completed in Phase 1 and 2 will help to inform the Commission's forward-focused Phase 3 work happening this summer which will begin to identify and develop meaningful recommendations for the future.

Through July and August, the Commission's proceedings will cover topics including community safety in rural areas, gender-based and intimate partner violence, the perpetrator's history of violence and financial misdealings, and policing oversight. There will be witnesses as listed below, as well as Foundational Documents, Commissioned Reports and roundtables.

"We have heard and shared a significant amount of information to date and there are very important and difficult topics and information still to cover. The Commission remains committed to independence, respect and transparency. We know it will be a busy summer working to gather necessary information, hearing from the right witnesses and experts, and asking the questions we need to inform our recommendations to help make Canadian communities safer," said Senior Commission Counsel Emily Hill.

Public proceedings will continue until the end of September 2022. Through the fall, the Commissioners will review the information gathered and shared throughout the proceedings to make findings and recommendations in their final report.

Anticipated Witnesses (July & August)

In their March 9, 2022 decision, the Commissioners determined that they would hear from senior RCMP members Superintendent Darren Campbell, Chief Superintendent Chris Leather, Assistant Commissioner Lee Bergerman, and Commissioner Brenda Lucki. The Commission has not received, and does not expect to receive, requests for accommodations for these witnesses to provide their testimony.

They have been scheduled as follows:

Supt. Darren Campbell - July 25-26, 2022
C/Supt. Chris Leather - July 27-28, 2022
A/Commr. Lee Bergerman - August 22-23, 2022
Commr. Brenda Lucki - August 23-24, 2022

In their March 9, 2022 decision, the Commissioners also indicated that they expected to hear from Ms. Lisa Banfield, the perpetrator's common law spouse. Ms. Banfield has since participated in five interviews with the Commission and voluntarily shared materials as part of the Commission's independent investigation. The Commission will hear from Ms. Banfield during public proceedings to address remaining questions relevant to the Commission's mandate. She will provide testimony in person, and may be accompanied by two support people. Given Ms. Banfield's situation as a survivor of the perpetrator's violence, as one of those most affected, and in light of the information she has already provided to the Commission, questions for her from Participants will be asked by Commission counsel. Commission counsel represent the public interest; they do not advocate for a particular point of view, but rather they inquire into the matter at hand in an impartial and objective way. There are 61 Participants, all of whom have been invited to submit questions in advance. They will also have opportunities to identify and bring forward further questions on the day of testimony during two caucus meetings with Commission counsel before Ms. Banfield is excused as a witness.

Lisa Banfield - July 15, 2022

Dates on which the Commission will hear from the witnesses listed below will be confirmed the Friday before they are set to appear:

Cst. Troy Maxwell
Cst. Greg Wiley
Brenda Forbes
Dr. Deborah Doherty
Witness Panel: Tristan Bridges and Tara Leigh Tober authors of the Commissioned Report, Mass Shootings and Masculinity
Witness Panel: Jude McCulloch and JaneMaree Maher authors of Commissioned Report, Understanding the Links between Gender-Based Violence and Mass Casualty Attacks: Private Violence and Misogyny as Public Risk
Witness Panel: Kristy Martire and Tess Neal authors of Commissioned Report, Rigorous Forensic Psychological Assessment Practices (Part I and II)

Following the Commission's process, all witnesses will be subpoenaed and required to testify under oath.

Commission Work to Date

Through 43 days of in-person and virtual public proceedings,

We have learned about:

What happened at all 17 of the crime scenes involved in the mass casualty.
How the perpetrator accessed the firearms, a replica RCMP vehicle and other police paraphernalia.
The policy and roll-out of Alert Ready in Nova Scotia before, at the time of, and after the mass casualty.
Many other relevant areas including RCMP command decisions, 911 and radio systems, other emergency and police services in Nova Scotia and how they collaborate with the RCMP, public communications from the RCMP and governments, and post-event supports.

We have shared:

27 Foundational Documents and over 2,100 supporting source materials that provide our current understanding of what happened, how and why. This includes more than 1,000 video and audio files including first responder communications and CCTV footage.
16 Commissioned Reports prepared by independent experts that focus on the related issues in our mandate.
More than 10 supplementary reports with results of further investigation into specific questions, events or particular topics.

We have heard from:

Over 230 witnesses, with more scheduled, as part of our ongoing investigation in which we have issued more than 80 subpoenas.
More than 40 witnesses during public proceedings, including 27 RCMP members.
More than 55 experts and others with relevant experience through eight roundtables.
A variety of people with direct experience of the mass casualty including first responders, support services and elected officials.

We have engaged:

Over 400 requests from media outlets and journalists and subsequent coverage from across Canada, United States and Europe.
More than 125,000 different visitors to the Commission website and 17,000 unique viewers of the proceedings webcast.
With people through over 450 emails and 150 phone calls to the Commission's information email and phone line.
More than 900 responses to the Commission's Share Your Experience survey and over 100 Public Submissions (and counting) of research and recommendations to inform the final report.

Background References:

Interim report
Mandate
Orders in Council
Wellness supports
Foundational Documents
What are Commissioned Reports
Research and Commissioned Reports
Proceedings Calendar

About the Mass Casualty Commission: The Commission into the April 2020 Nova Scotia Mass Casualty (the "Mass Casualty Commission") is an independent public inquiry created to examine the April 18-19, 2020 mass casualty in Nova Scotia and to provide meaningful recommendations to help protect Canadians in the future. For more information, see https://MassCasualtyCommission.ca/.

Foundational Documents shared as of June 30, 2022

1. Portapique, April 18-19, 2020

2. First Responders Actions in Portapique

3. Containment Points in and Around Portapique

4. Overnight in Debert

5. 2328 Hunter Road

6. Highway 4, Wentworth

7. Highway 4, Glenholme

8. Plains Road, Debert

9. Onslow Belmont Fire Brigade Hall

10. Shubenacadie

11. Highway 224