The Rodgers Brief

After a three-week summer break, the Mass Casualty Commission resumed proceedings today, with testimony from retired Assistant Commissioner Lee Bergerman. Asst. Comm. Bergerman was the head of the RCMP in Nova Scotia at the time of the events of the mass casualty. She retired from the RCMP just before the MCC proceedings were set to start last October.  The timing of Asst. Comm. Bergerman’s r...

After a 3-week hiatus, the Mass Casualty Commission will be holding proceedings again starting Monday August 22nd. There are proceedings scheduled for the following four weeks as well, and then a break for the month of October, before the Commissioners release their report on November 1st.  This week, we will be hearing from Assistant Commissioner Lee Bergerman, the head of the RCMP in Nova S...

The final day of Mass Casualty Commission proceedings before a three week break featured some revelations, expressions of regret, and careful answers from Chief Superintendent Chris Leather, who was the second ranking RCMP officer in Nova Scotia at the time of the events of the April 18-19, 2020 mass shooting. These all emerged from cross examination by lawyers for the family participants, though...

The Mass Casualty Commission continued to hear from senior NS-based RCMP commanders today, with testimony from Chief Superintendent Chris Leather. C/Sup Leather was the second ranking officer in Nova Scotia at the time of the events of the mass casualty. He was in Halifax after having testified Monday in Ottawa before the Federal Public Safety and National Security Subcommittee.  Among the ob...

After providing his direct testimony yesterday, Superintendent Darren Campbell was cross examined by lawyers for the participants today. Sup. Campbell was the third ranking RCMP officer in Nova Scotia at the time of the April 18-19, 2020 mass shooting, and is the first of the senior ranking RCMP officers to testify at the Mass Casualty Commission. Before Sup. Campbell’s testimony began, we learned...

It was a busy day for those following the analysis of actions of senior RCMP officers during the events of the mass shooting of April 18-19, 2020 and the press conferences which were held in the aftermath. Superintendent Darren Campbell, who was the third ranking officer in NS at the time of the mass shooting, was testifying in Halifax in the Mass Casualty Commission proceedings. At the same time,...

Two experts in forensic psychology have conducted an assessment of the RCMP's Psychological Autopsy of Gabriel Wortman, and were called upon to explain their conclusions. They were highly critical of the report, which does not adhere to the standards they would expect from a forensic psychological assessment.  The RCMP's assessment is not available to view. Instead, the MCC has posted a summa...

The MCC today featured a panel discussion on “IPV, GBV and Family Violence: Personal and Community Responses”, and featured Pamela Cross, Legal Director, Luke's Place Support and Resource Centre, Dr. Deborah Doherty, former Executive Director of the Public Legal Education and Information Service of New Brunswick, Emma Halpern, Executive Director, Elizabeth Fry Society of Mainland NS, Professor Jan...

The Mass Casualty Commission continued its focus on the various contextual elements of domestic, intimate partner, and family violence today with two further panel discussions. These represented the seventh and eighth sessions of the MCC which have focused on these topics, each of which provided ‘context’ rather than specific analysis of the April 18-19, 2020 Nova Scotia mass shooting.  In he...

The Mass Casualty Commission took a welcome break from academic discussion panels today to explore evidence about the finances of the killer, and to hear from an RCMP officer who dealt with the complaint from Brenda Forbes, which she described in her evidence last week. The financial misdealings Foundational Document gave a window into the degree of illegal activity in which Gabriel Wortman was en...

After the drama of last week, which concluded with the (unsatisfactory) appearance of Lisa Banfield, the MCC has turned back to the monotony of further discussion panels for the week ahead, with an interlude tomorrow to hear from a police witness and examine Gabriel Wortman’s “financial misdealings”.  The focus of today’s “roundtable” was “Mass Casualties, IPV, GBV and Family Violence: Explor...

Today, more than two years after the Nova Scotia mass shooting, the common law spouse of the killer has finally spoken in public, as she gave evidence in the Mass Casualty Commission proceedings. Lisa Banfield spent 19 years with Gabriel Wortman before he went on a rampage and killed 22 people over the course of 13 hours on April 18-19, 2020. It is difficult to know what to make of Ms. Banfield. S...

The Mass Casualty Commission hosted two panel discussions today, which served as something of a reprieve, or calm before the storm, of a week focused on the evidence of the gunman’s spouse, Lisa Banfield. The panel discussions focused on (the futility of) predicting mass shootings and the psychology of mass killers. Ms. Banfield will be speaking tomorrow, and so in anticipation of Ms. Banfield’s a...

This was a dramatic day of evidence in the Mass Casualty Commission. For the first time, we have heard the voice of Lisa Banfield, and were able to walk in her shoes, in a sense, as she did a re-enactment of her movements during the overnight hours of April 18-19, 2020. This was all in advance of her expected appearance on Friday, and seemed designed to remove all drama from that appearance. Befor...

The Mass Casualty Commission today focused on Gabriel Wortman’s extensive history of violence with people other than his spouse. There was a presentation of a Foundational Document summarizing Wortman’s violent encounters with others, followed by a witness, Wortman’s former neighbour, Brenda Forbes. Ms. Forbes knew about some key incidents of violence, and had reported Wortman to the police. &nbsp...

The Mass Casualty Commission focused its attention today on masculinity, past violence committed by Gabriel Wortman, and gender-based violence in rural Nova Scotia. Two California professors presented their research on how data in the US shows how men tend to be the perpetrators in mass shootings, there was a Foundational Document presentation on Wortman’s past violent behavior, and there was an e...

As part of their continuing effort to reduce the size of their viewing audience, the Mass Casualty Commission today featured a roundtable discussion on “Rurality and Community Well-Being”. The information on the MCC website suggested that the goal of the discussion was to address culture and attitudes of rural life in Nova Scotia, limited and differential service delivery in rural areas, and healt...

On the second day of proceedings this week before the Canada Day long weekend, there were three featured items on the MCC agenda. First, there was an announcement on a schedule of significant witnesses who have been subpoenaed to appear over the summer. Then, there were two roundtable discussions, one on mental health impacts on first responders, and one on policing rural communities.  Commis...

After a week of dramatic testimony and revelations which made national news, the MCC is looking to be much quieter as we end the month of June. Today, there was a seven-person roundtable discussion on the mental health needs of families and communities after a mass casualty incident. On Thursday, there will be a similar discussion, focused on the needs of first responders after a mass casualty. Pa...

On a day when the MCC proceedings included a technical roundtable on communications interoperability, followed by an expert witness presentation on supporting survivors, the main public focus turned to (or remained focused on) a brewing political controversy. The Commissioner of the RCMP, Brenda Lucki, has become the subject of heavy criticism following the revelation that she tried to compel seni...

On a day when the MCC proceedings included a technical roundtable on communications interoperability, followed by an expert witness presentation on supporting survivors, the main public focus turned to (or remained focused on) a brewing political controversy. The Commissioner of the RCMP, Brenda Lucki, has become the subject of heavy criticism following the revelation that she tried to compel seni...

The proceedings today focused on some of the after-effects of the shootings and the services made available to family members and others. There was a Foundational Document presentation on mental health supports offered, and then witness testimony from Cst. Wayne “Skipper” Bent, who was assigned to be the family liaison officer on behalf of the RCMP. The most explosive part of the evidence was left...

The MCC proceedings featured two decisions from the Commissioners, on witness questioning and the release of the videos from the Big Stop. Commission lawyer Emily Hill presented evidence today on the chaotic and slow process of notifying next of kin about the deaths caused by the NS mass shooter, a process which angered many family members, and is at least partially responsible for the current sta...

The MCC’s short week of proceedings continued and concluded today with two further ‘small group’ sessions. The morning session featured service providers from Victim’s Services, the Medical Examiners office, and a funeral director. In the afternoon session, we heard from MLA Tom Taggart, and Mayor Christine Blair. It is in the mandate of the MCC to look at the services that were available and prov...

The stage had been set for a hearing tomorrow morning on an application by Frank Magazine, supported by other media organizations, along with family participants, to have surveillance videos from the Enfield Big Stop be published as exhibits in the Mass Casualty Commission. The issue has been resolved, but how it played out has exposed what appears to be a rift between the MCC lawyers and the thre...