Note to Editors - the Mass Casualty Commission - Proceedings Open to the Public

TRURO, NS and HALIFAX, NS, March 25, 2022 /CNW/ - The Mass Casualty Commission ("the Commission") will resume public proceedings on Monday, March 28, at 9:30 a.m. AT. Proceedings will be open to the public, and doors for all attendees will open at 8 a.m. daily.

If you would like to attend public proceedings, please register in advance by filling out the form available on our website. If you have been granted accreditation by the Commission, please register under accredited media.

Media who choose not to be accredited will be provided options for covering the Commission's proceedings with access to public seating, real-time webcasts of public proceedings and documents as they are posted on the Commission website. 

Weekly schedule
On March 28, public proceedings will resume at the Halifax Convention Centre. During the week, the Commission will hear from the three RCMP officers who first arrived on the scene in Portapique on April 18, as well as a community member from the area as witnesses, and the Commission will continue to share Foundational Documents and information about what happened.

The nature of witness questioning may result in changes to the proceedings schedule with little notice. Some witnesses may be scheduled to appear for half a day, while others may be scheduled to appear in front of the Commission across multiple days. However, the actual amount of time that questioning will take depends on a range of factors, including the number of questions or the type of information being discussed with any given witness or witness panel, and whether further questioning is needed.

We will continue to send media schedules on Fridays for the week before proceedings; however, our team is regularly updating the proceedings calendar and we encourage you to check for information here. Please see below the schedule for next week's public proceedings.

Beginning March 28, members of the public are welcome to attend proceedings in person, due to the lifting of gathering restrictions by the Province of Nova Scotia. As always, we ask that media be respectful of all attendees and only film or record people in designated media areas and with permission. We appreciate your ongoing cooperation and consideration.

Note: There are no longer public proceedings scheduled the week of April 4. The Onslow Belmont Fire Brigade Foundational Document will now be part of proceedings the week of April 11.

Location
Please note that starting the week of April 25, our venue location for public proceedings will change periodically. The calendar and the registration portal will have different locations depending on the date you wish to attend. Spaces for media may be limited and vary by site locations. These changes are due to venue availability.

Please check the calendar regularly for updates on times and locations. We will continue to update the calendar and website to keep the public well-informed and up to date.

Accreditation
Accredited media have access to designated media areas and reserved seating during in-person events and advance access to Commission documents (including Foundational Documents) before they are made public. Those who would like advance access to documents will additionally be required to sign a confidentiality undertaking.

A violation of the protocols for accredited media or of the confidentiality undertaking may result in loss of advanced embargoed access to documents or revocation of accreditation, at the discretion of the Commission. The revocation of accreditation may be applicable to an individual and that individual's organization.

Media may apply for accreditation using the form in the media centre on our website.  

About the Mass Casualty Commission: The Mass Casualty Commission is the independent public inquiry examining the April 2020 mass casualty in Nova Scotia, working to provide meaningful recommendations to help protect communities in the future. For more information, see https://masscasualtycommission.ca.

Related links:
https://masscasualtycommission.ca 
Media page 
Proceedings Calendar
Mandate
Wellness Supports

Foundational Documents

SOURCE Mass Casualty Commission

Media Contact: [email protected].