RCMP pledges to review N.S. mass shooting recommendations, restore trust in province

The interim commissioner of the RCMP and the top Mountie in Nova Scotia say they are committed to better serving the province, but neither had reviewed the recommendations of the Mass Casualty Commission before speaking to reporters on Thursday.

"I just haven't gone through the recommendations just yet," said interim commissioner Michael Duheme.

"It doesn't minimize the impact of what took place, I just haven't had time to go through the recommendations."

The commission's report, released in Truro, N.S. at noon AT on Thursday, includes 130 recommendations, more than half focused on the RCMP and policing in Canada. The RCMP received an advance copy of the report at 9 a.m. Wednesday.

Despite not being familiar with the recommendations, Assistant Commissioner Dennis Daley, the head of the Nova Scotia RCMP, said the work of the commission would help guide public safety in Nova Scotia and the rest of the country.

"We are here today with a promise to act on the MCC's recommendations in a manner that is transparent to the victims, survivors and their families," he told reporters.

Daley said the RCMP did not wait for the release of the report before making changes.

Since the mass killings in 2020, Daley said, the RCMP has invested in new equipment, has provided employees with more training, enhanced its protocols around critical incidents, is working to improve relationships with municipal police forces and changed its approach with emergency alerts to the public.

Michael Scott, a lawyer with Patterson Law which represents most of the victims' families, said it would have been "preferable" if Duheme had read the report before the event.

"Certainly we read it, some of the clients read it. We did it because it was important," Scott told CBC News.

 "We hope that that's not a signal of things to come, but we certainly appreciate their being here and at least showing their support and indicating that they're open to the changes that have been recommended."

Some of the harshest condemnation issued by commissioners was saved for the RCMP's decision to withhold information from the public during the gunman's 13-hour rampage.

"The RCMP's failure … deprived community members of the opportunity to evaluate risks to their safety and to take measures to better protect themselves," wrote the commissioners.

Some victims' families, especially those who were killed on the morning of April 19, have been vocal that they believe their loved ones would still be alive if the RCMP had broadcast public warnings.