Mountie who wrote that RCMP head interfered in N.S. investigation 'came to his own conclusions,' says Blair
CBC
Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair is casting doubt on the Nova Scotia Mountie who suggested Commissioner Brenda Lucki interfered in the investigation into the largest mass shooting in Canadian history.
The former public safety minister's comments come as the political firestorm around the head of the national police force spills into a second day.
That explosive allegation was contained in handwritten notes from Nova Scotia RCMP Supt. Darren Campbell which were released Tuesday as part of the Mass Casualty Commission probe.
The commission is investigating the April 18-19, 2020, rampage that claimed the lives of 22 people — including a pregnant woman — and left several people injured and several homes destroyed. The commission released a report Tuesday on the way the RCMP and government communicated with the public about the incident.
In those notes, Campbell wrote that RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki was upset that the RCMP in Nova Scotia were not revealing more information about the weapons used because she had promised the federal government — which was considering gun control legislation at the time — that they would raise it.
"The superintendent obviously came to his own conclusions and his notes reflect that," Blair told reporters Wednesday.
"But I'm telling you, and I would tell the superintendent if I spoke to him, I made no effort to pressure the RCMP to interfere in any way with their investigation. I gave no direction as to what information they should communicate. Those are operational decisions of the RCMP and I respect that and I have respected that throughout."
Lucki has also denied interfering in the investigation.
"As a police officer, and the RCMP commissioner, I would never take actions or decisions that could jeopardize an investigation," Lucki wrote in a statement released Tuesday evening.
While the statement did not address the claim that she was pushing for the release of more information to help the Liberals' plans for gun control, Lucki wrote that briefings with the minister of public safety are necessary, particularly during a mass shooting.
"I take the principle of police independence extremely seriously, and it has been and will continue to be fully respected in all interactions," she wrote.
Blair, who was previously the minister of public safety, said he has faith in the commissioner, who was appointed by the Liberal government in 2018.
Interim Conservative leader Candice Bergen accused the government of denying wrongdoing.
"Conservatives believe Supt. Darren Campell when he says that Brenda Lucki, the commissioner, pressured him, pressured the RCMP, and the reason she did it was because she had made a commitment or she had been pressured by the Prime Minister's Office and/or the public safety minister," she said.
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