Women exploited by killer feared telling police about his crimes, panel finds

A lack of trust in police, fear of being mistreated and disbelieved are some of the reasons vulnerable women did not report being sexually exploited by the gunman who went on to kill 22 Nova Scotians in April 2020, according to the commission examining the mass shooting.

The recently released final report of the Mass Casualty Commission provides a disturbing insight into the gunman's exploitation of Indigenous and African Nova Scotian women for years. Some victims of his violence and intimidation were denture patients at his clinics in Dartmouth and Halifax.

The inquiry heard how he would try to exchange dental work for sex in cases where people could not pay in full and that he preyed on marginalized women, in some cases being paid by the provincial government because his clients were on income assistance.

However, the commission revealed the survivors were reluctant to report what happened to them because of "a long history of women, particularly women from historically disadvantaged groups, not being believed or being revictimized by institutions, including the police and the courts."

"I think it speaks to the vulnerability of Black women and racialized women," said Lana MacLean, a clinical social worker who testified before the commission.

MacLean, who has 25 years of experience working with the African Nova Scotian community, said the power and privilege dynamic of the situation is another key reason women did not have confidence.

"This is a man who had significant power and more credibility," MacLean said. "Some of these women may have been involved in the criminal justice system themselves and already know what it feels like not to be believed."

The women did not even feel safe to talk directly to the commission during its hearings in 2022, the final report notes. Instead they spoke to the Avalon Sexual Assault Centre, which then summarized what happened to them in a separate report.

Those findings describe a man who was in a position of trust and abused his power to manipulate and exploit people he knew to be vulnerable and not likely to speak up.

The Avalon report showed he bragged about providing dental services at a reduced cost and was known to sexually exploit marginalized women, including those who self-identified as sex workers.

Statistics presented by Avalon demonstrate Black and Indigenous women are more likely to face gender-based violence.

Disproportionate levels of violence against Indigenous women have been reported many times before including by the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. 

Its 2019 report found that Indigenous women and girls are 16 times more likely to be killed or to disappear than white women. It also identified institutional racism in health care, child welfare, policing and the justice system and called for more Indigenous police officers, as well as judges. 

"Indigenous women have been dealing with violence and intimate partner violence for over 400 years, it started when settlers first stepped foot onto this continent," said Denise Pictou Maloney, whose mother, Annie Mae Pictou Aquash, was murdered in 1975.