OTTAWA-
The House of Commons National and Public Safety Committee is due to meet today to discuss allegations of political interference in the 2020 mass shooting in Nova Scotia.
Seven people are scheduled to appear before the committee on Tuesday, including Deputy Minister of Justice and Deputy Attorney General of Canada François Daigle, Supt. chief of the Nova Scotia RCMP. and lead investigator Darren Campbell, and Lia Scanlan, director of strategic communications.
Both Campbell and Scanlan have brought charges of political interference in the investigation into the mass shooting, which killed 22 people in April 2020. They say officials pressured police to release details on the shooter’s weapons, after the shooting, in an effort to push for new gun legislation.
As part of the Mass Casualty Commission – an ongoing independent public inquiry created to look into the 1 p.m. rampage – documents have been released showing that Campbell had handwritten notes of a meeting with RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki in the days following the shooting that indicate Lucki had assured Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair and the Prime Minister’s Office, the RCMP, would release information about the shooter’s firearms.
Both Blair and Lucki have repeatedly denied pressuring the RCMP or interfering in the investigation. Lucki told the Committee on Public Safety and National Security in July that it was a “misunderstanding” at the meeting.
With files from Rachel Aiello of CTVNews.ca