N.S. mass shooting report condemns RCMP failures, calls for dramatic reforms

Nearly three years after 22 people were killed across Nova Scotia, an inquiry into the mass shooting has delivered a scathing report denouncing the RCMP for failing to warn community members of the danger they were in, depriving them of potentially life-saving information. 

The commissioners also turned their eye to how an "epidemic" of domestic violence played a role in the rampage.

After listening to seven months of witness testimony and reviewing thousands of pages of documents,  the Mass Casualty Commission released its final, sprawling report Thursday with 130 recommendations across more than 3,000 pages.

The report took aim at the RCMP's response to the crisis, on almost every level. It called out a lack of preparation, a lack of communication and a lack of leadership — issues so pertinent and prevalent the commissioners are calling for a rethink of how the entire force operates. 

WATCH | Families of the victims of the N.S. mass shooting are expected to speak this afternoon. CBC will carry their comments live below.  

"More than two years after the event, RCMP leadership had done very little to systematically evaluate its critical incident response to the deadliest mass shooting in Canada's history," noted the commissioners in the report.

"In our process, it was apparent that the organizational structure of the RCMP both contributes to these failings and makes it challenging to hold the organization accountable for its work."

The RCMP was woefully unprepared to handle the events of April 18 and 19, 2020, according to the report, despite previous recommendations out of past tragedies.

The responding detachment in Bible Hill, N.S., didn't have an emergency operational plan, despite national guidelines following the Parliament Hill shooting in 2014. The plans are meant to prepare the force ahead of an incident so that if a crisis arises, questions such as roles and responsibilities and access to resources are already understood 

Mounties on the ground also weren't aware of plans that were supposed to be in place.

For example, following the shooting in Moncton, N.B, that killed three Mounties in 2014, recommendations were made to establish an emergency operational plan that identified major transport routes and critical locations to stop or contain an active threat from moving across the province.

"However, those in command of the critical incident response of April 18 and 19, 2020, were unaware of the existence of this plan, and it was not used during the mass casualty," said Thursday's report. 

It also said information gleaned by 911 call-takers in the RCMP Operational Communications Centre was incomplete and not always passed along. 

The lack of preparedness caused chaos and confusion on the ground with the responding officers unclear of the command structure.