Nova Scotia Shooting: Turning the Tide Together

A memorial for mass shooting victims in Portapique, Nova Scotia | Photo Credit: Joan Baxter/The Halifax Examiner

Major reforms are needed in Canada’s public safety systems, says the commission responsible for investigating the deadliest mass killing in Canadian history.

Known as the Mass Casualty Commission, the public body was formed after 22 people were shot to death at the hands of Gabriel Wortman in Nova Scotia in April 2020. The response of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) during the shooting was heavily criticized, and promoted a public inquest. Recently, the commission concluded their inquiry with the release of a final report that called for changes in emergency alert systems and the RCMP’s planned responses to situations similar to this one.

Starting on Apr. 19, 2020, Wortman’s killing spree lasted for a total of two days until he was killed by the RCMP. During his rampage, police confirmed that he wore “an authentic police uniform,” and that he was driving a vehicle that was “identical in every way to a marked police car.”

RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki stated to CBC that “it wasn't actually an RCMP vehicle,” and that they were still trying to figure out how the vehicle was created. 

When the Mass Casualty Commission interviewed GCSurplus warehouse manager Max Liberatore, it was revealed that Wortman had bought a decommissioned RCMP Ford Taurus off of a 2019 auction. Though the vehicle was stripped of its RCMP decals at auction, according to the RCMP, Wortman was able to procure counterfeits through a sign shop in Nova Scotia. Additional accessories such as police light bars and radars were purchased through online shopping platforms such as Amazon or Ebay, or through his friends.

Alongside concerns of police impersonation, the report from the commission expressed doubt about the efficiency and effectiveness of the RCMP’s threat communication protocols. Despite the presence of an active shooter, only one alert was released by the RCMP in the form of a Twitter post in the first eight hours of the investigation.

Former national director of Australia's alert system Michael Hallowes, who has spent decades working on emergency systems, criticized the RCMP for using Twitter as their main form of communication.

“The issue with social media is you have to be following, if it's Twitter, the right channel to get the official word and it can therefore leave a lot of people out of the communication,” said Hallowes in his testimony to the Mass Casualty Commission, “I couldn't see it as being a primary alerting channel.”

The Government of Canada issued an Order-in-Council that established the Mass Casualty Commission as a joint public inquiry investigating the 2020 Nova Scotia shooting. There were three commissioners assigned to the inquiry: former Nova Scotia Chief Justice Michael MacDonald, former police chief Leanne Fitch, and lawyer Dr. Kim Stanton. 

The Commission was created not just to investigate the Nova Scotia shooting, but also to “provide meaningful recommendations to help keep communities safer.” In a statement about their values, the commission declared that they are “independent of any governments, institutions or other associations of individuals or groups.”

On March 30 this year, the Mass Casualty Commission released their final report on the matter, titled ‘Turning the Tide Together,” that addresses such issues in the Canadian public safety system. The preface establishes their focus on two objectives: prevention of violence and ensuring effective critical incident response.

The report included recommendations in many categories, with some notable specific examples including the prohibition of many semi-automatic firearms, the removal of the exception for personal possession of ceremonial police uniforms, and an in-depth, external, and independent review of the

RCMP, its approach to contract policing and work with contract partners, and its approach to community relations.

According to the Toronto Star, 75 of the 130 recommendations in the report involved the RCMP. “The RCMP must finally undergo the fundamental change that many previous reports have called for,” wrote the commissioners in the preface.

RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme responded by stating that the organization will “take the time to read and process the report” as advised, and that “the RCMP is committed to learning from this tragedy and moving forward as a stronger organization.” He shared that the RCMP has already made “significant advancements in the use of public alerting,” and that they “are grateful to the Commission for its guidance.”

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino released a statement in response to the report that supported its insights, saying that he is “committed to working together with different levels of government to review the report and address its recommendations.” Mendicino pledges to “implement the reforms that are necessary and do [his] utmost to ensure this kind of tragedy never happens again.” 

As a result of the Mass Casualty Commission’s final report, multiple reforms have already been made in Canada’s public safety system; the RCMP released a statement on Apr. 5 detailing improvements in multiple aspects of its service. In response to criticism about its public communication, the RCMP adopted the Alert Ready, Canada’s official emergency alerting system, and has implemented its usage in its Cadet Training Program. With Alert Ready being able to reach any device that can connect to an LTE network, there is a large improvement in terms of accessibility compared to using social media.