Lawyers lay out 'failings' in RCMP response to Nova Scotia mass shooting

Lawyers for most families of the 22 people killed in the 2020 Nova Scotia mass shooting laid out blunt assessments Tuesday of RCMP "failings" before, during and after the horrific massacre.

The Mass Casualty Commission leading the inquiry into the tragic events of April 18 and 19, 2020, heard final submissions from family members of many victims during hearings in Truro, N.S., either through lawyers or speaking on their own behalf.

Sandra McCulloch of Patterson Law, which represents most of the victims' families, outlined "a great number of failings" including lack of proper training and equipment for RCMP to deal with a mobile, active shooter at night in a wooded area, and a range of communication problems between officers and the public.

The families have also complained about how the RCMP treated them after the massacre, and procedural issues with the commission itself.

"Now is not the time to shy away from assigning accountability, for the fear that it might have the appearance of blame," McCulloch told the commission.

"Our clients deserve a frank and honest assessment of what went wrong, prior to, during, and after the mass casualty."

Many victims' family members attended the hearing Tuesday, including Nick Beaton, whose pregnant wife Kristen Beaton was killed the morning of April 19 in the small community of Debert.

Speaking alongside McCulloch outside the inquiry, Beaton told reporters it was important to come in person "because this is our life."

Beaton and other victims' families have been vocal about their disappointment in not being able to directly question major witnesses including the gunman's partner Lisa Banfield or RCMP officers in key positions during the shooting.

He said the inquiry's trauma-informed mandate left him feeling that it protected all other witnesses, while the families of shooting victims have been left "battling through" the process themselves.

On Tuesday, Beaton said there was "a lot more" that could have been done by the commission, but he's waiting until their final report to decide whether anything valuable came from the inquiry families pushed so hard to get.

"There's hope. That's all we've had is hope. I mean, we fought hard to get it, we voiced our concerns along the way. Me and the other family members I know, that's all we have left is hope, because we tried every other avenue," Beaton said.

Another family member who lost a loved one let the commissioners know exactly how she felt about the process.

Tara Long's brother Aaron Tuck was killed in Portapique the night of April 18, alongside his wife Jolene Oliver and their teenage daughter Emily Tuck. Long, who represented herself in her final submission to the commission Tuesday, said she's still struggling with what happened that day and afterwards.