Here's what to watch for during the N.S. mass shooting hearings
CBC
The long-awaited public phase of the inquiry into the mass shootings of April 2020 that left 22 dead in Nova Scotia is beginning in Halifax on Tuesday morning, but the proceedings will be a far cry from a trial.
The goal of the joint federal and provincial inquiry is to make communities safer. Its mandate extends beyond looking at the 13 hours that a gunman disguised as a Mountie travelled freely through rural parts of the province, killing neighbours in Portapique and acquaintances and strangers in Wentworth, Debert and Shubenacadie.
Only a handful of people survived encounters with 51-year-old denturist Gabriel Wortman who torched homes, used guns he obtained illegally, and who police later described as paranoid and fixated on the end of the world.
The Mass Casualty Commission is responsible for examining how policing and government agencies responded to the tragedy, the role intimate partner violence played, the shooter's access to firearms and any other past dealings he had with police.
Charlene Bagley's father, Tom Bagley was a retired firefighter and navy veteran. He was killed when he stopped by his neighbours' home in Wentworth to check on them. The gunman was a stranger.
"The fact that my father was taken really does challenge the grieving process…. I can't fully heal until I know," she said. "I want answers."
When Tom Bagley left home for his usual morning walk on April 19, 2020, police had not yet publicly identified their suspect. It would be another hour before they shared on Twitter that he was in a mock cruiser.
"I want to know why an [emergency] alert wasn't called. Mainly because I know for certain that would have saved his life," said Charlene Bagley, who lives in the Halifax area.
Bagley is among a number of people directly impacted who say they've lost faith in the inquiry process they demanded and doubt it will actually bring answers to questions that have haunted them since April 2020.
She wrote a letter to the commission last week in which she said she wanted to hear testimony under oath from the officers who fired at the Onslow fire hall as well as the gunman's partner, Lisa Banfield.
"She knew him more than anybody. She lived with him," Bagley said in an interview, adding she's also skeptical of the accounts presented by the RCMP.
Banfield's lawyer said he was unable to comment on his client's involvement in the commission until after her trial that starts in late March. Banfield has pleaded not guilty to giving the gunman the ammunition he used in the shootings, although police say she didn't know his plans.
This week's proceedings at the Halifax Convention Centre will be livestreamed and won't involve the introduction of any new evidence until next Monday. On Tuesday, the commissioners are scheduled to give opening remarks and there will be a panel on mental health and wellness.
The inquiry has cost $13 million so far and until this point, its work has happened behind the scenes. A team of investigators has been combing through tens of thousands of pages of documents — including notes and files subpoenaed from the RCMP — as well as conducting their own interviews with front-line officers and other first responders.
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