News 1. Weather There will be weather this afternoon, and then again Wednesday morning. It won’t be as bad as it could be, but will still be plenty powerful. As someone once said: charge your devices and order Chinese food. (Copy link for this item) 2. Expert: GW was not an informant “On Monday, Judge […]
Witness told police that mass murderer “builds fires and burns bodies, is a sexual predator, and supplies drugs in Portapique and Economy”
Today, a Nova Scotia judge ordered that some of the redactions in search warrant documents related to the RCMP’s investigation in the mass murders of April 18/19 be un-redacted. This was in response to an application to the court by a media coalition that includes the Halifax Examiner. The Examiner has published the previously redacted […]
Portapique: how to (maybe) turn a rickety review into a transparent public inquiry
Premier McNeil says if the panel reviewing Nova Scotia's mass shooting believes they need more authority to do their jobs, he'll give it to them. Their first order of business, therefore, should be to demand the review become a full, transparent public inquiry. Without that, there will never be public confidence in their work.
Allow me to make a modest suggestion. First, a few assumptions. Let’s assume Nova Scotia Justice Minister Mark Furey is correct. He and federal Public Safety Minister Bill Blair chose the three-member “independent and impartial” panel to “review” April’s mass shooting in Nova Scotia “because of their experience in fact-finding and independence, in-depth knowledge of […]
Petition calls for mass murder inquiry with “feminist lens”
A petition containing 7,648 signatures calling for a “feminist lens” to be included in a Nova Scotia independent public inquiry into the worst mass shooting in Canadian history was sent yesterday to the prime minister; the federal ministers of Public Safety, Justice, and Women And Gender Equality; Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil; as well as […]
Why we need a full public inquiry into the Nova Scotia massacre
Is it a crazy idea that the Nova Scotian mass murderer was a police informant? Consider the historic context: while he was an RCMP informant, Dany Kane killed 11 people.
We are now about to enter our fourth month since that horrendous weekend of April 18-19, when 22 people were murdered in an unprecedented rampage in Nova Scotia by the madman denturist the Halifax Examiner is identifying as “GW.” From the outset we’ve known two things: 1) GW was a psychopathic, revenge-seeking maniac and 2) […]
Cabinet roundup: Northwood review, mass shooting inquiry, schools, Liscombe Lodge, and Northern Pulp
Jennifer Henderson attended the virtual post-cabinet meeting scrum Thursday, when government ministers take questions from reporters. Northwood Review: The premier and Health minister faced questions around the government’s choice to release only the recommendations and not the findings from a two-person review panel appointed to look into practices at Northwood’s Halifax facility, where 53 people […]
Nova Scotians to determine questions and guide research into mass shooting
New program aims to 'find answers and healing' in the aftermath of tragedy by seeking community input
Researchers behind a new program intended to help Nova Scotians “find answers and healing” in the wake of April’s mass shooting incident want residents to determine what topics are most important to investigate. The Heal-NS Trauma Research Program was launched yesterday. The program brings together a multidisciplinary group of researchers devoted to investigating issues related […]
Colchester councillor: change in RCMP policing model left information gap on shooter
Mike Gregory knows policing is very different today than it was in 1989 when he arrived as an RCMP officer in Tatamagouche. The recent murderous one-man rampage across central Nova Scotia has made him reflect on those differences. Gregory also served in Digby, Halifax, and Sackville over his 30-year career. In smaller locations especially, he […]
RCMP Rural Policing: Strangers in a Hurry, Policing Strangers
The debate over the RCMP’s response to the mass shootings at Portapique and other rural locations has focused on the lack of awareness of — and response to — earlier community complaints and information about the offender. I am struck by the amount of prior knowledge and information that local residents and neighbours had of […]
Inquiry into mass shooting will be announced soon
A federal-provincial inquiry into the mass shooting that claimed the lives of 22 Nova Scotians could be announced as early as next week after the details are sorted out. Attorney General Mark Furey said yesterday discussions between the province and federal Public Safety Minister Bill Blair are in the “final stages.” Premier Stephen McNeil told […]