Victims' family raises questions on timeline, gunman's exit in Portapique inquiry

Harry Bond still doesn't know exactly when a gunman killed his parents, Joy and Peter Bond, a couple who had retired to a quiet corner of Nova Scotia steps from the Bay of Fundy shore. 

Police did not discover their bodies for about 16 hours, something he still finds troubling. Making things worse, police did not confirm their Saturday night deaths to him until two days later, when he finally got fed up waiting for information and drove to Portapique, N.S., from his home a few hours drive away.

"I had to jump in my truck Monday morning and pick up my brother and go down and demand answers … that's the only reason we found out Monday afternoon," Bond said in an interview.

"Everything about this, it's changed my outlook on life. It's changed my outlook on the RCMP, unfortunately. And that's why this public inquiry — to do the public inquiry properly — is so important. There was mistakes and they need to learn from them."

The lack of faith in institutions — from the police force meant to protect, to the inquiry tasked with examining whether it failed to do so — has been a common thread in the nearly two years since a man disguised as a Mountie killed 22 people in April 2020. 

Loved ones of people killed demanded a full public inquiry to get answers about how the gunman managed to move freely between communities in a replica cruiser, his actions a cruel distortion of a symbol many, including some of his victims, only associated with law and order. 

This week, the commission mandated to shine a light on what happened, as well as the context and circumstances of the attacks that injured some and left many others deeply affected, will be resuming deliberations Monday on whether to call individual front-line officers, and discussing when the commanding officers overseeing the response will be called. 

MLA Tom Taggart, who represents the area, said the first time he spoke to inquiry staff he told them they had to work on building trust in the community. 

But he said he hasn't seen that happen. He said not having answers about whether the gunman's spouse or RCMP officers will testify has "derailed" people's faith in the process. 

"The credibility [of the commission] is shot right now. Can they get it back? I don't know," said Taggart, who was the municipal councillor in April 2020.

Lawyers for some families have requested 18 officers be called as witnesses.

"It will not be a question of if but when" commanding officers will be called, Chief Commissioner Michael MacDonald said Thursday.  

Some legal experts have said the commission's trauma-informed approach should be balanced with the public's right to information.

Taggart said he's willing to accept some RCMP officers may need accommodations to testify, but he said testimony is crucial. He said they may well be traumatized, but so are the people he represents.