N.S. mass shooting: Committee tracking recommendations says progress is being made

The committee monitoring progress on the 130 recommendations made by the Mass Casualty Commission said progress is being made in three key areas.

Myra Freeman, the chair of the Progress Monitoring Committee (PMC), shared details from the organization’s first annual report and said it marks an important milestone for the committee, which is tasked with monitoring and reporting publicly on the progress made on the MCC’s long list of recommendations.

“Action on the recommendations continues to be a high public safety priority. There remains much to be done, but I am encouraged by the serious commitment to address the recommendations from both levels of government and the RCMP,” said Freeman.

The first report from the PMC shows the progress made in the three key areas are:

• gender-based intimate partner violence
• access to firearms
• reforms to strengthen the province's independent police watchdog, the Serious Incident Response Team (SiRT).

The PMC was created in 2023 in co-operation with the federal and provincial governments to monitor, report, and share information on the progress being made around the 130 recommendations made in the MCC’s final report, called "Turning the Tide Together."

The PMC is made up of government representatives from both the provincial and federal governments, victim's families, municipal officials, police associations, gender-based violence advocates, and Indigenous and African Nova Scotian community groups.

The PMC has a three-year mandate and meets quarterly. They are scheduled to meet again in December where the RCMP will take part.

'We will never forget'

The Mass Casualty Commission (MCC) was formed after the April 2020 killings of 22 innocent Nova Scotians, including a pregnant woman, where a gunman disguised as an RCMP officer and driving a mock replica cruiser went on a 13-hour shooting rampage.

Police officers with the RCMP’s tactical unit eventually caught up with the gunman, who was shot and killed outside a truck stop and gas station along Highway 102 in Enfield, N.S.

Premier Tim Houston issued a statement recognizing the importance of the report committee’s work and reinforced the province’s commitment to implementing all of the MCC’s recommendations.

“We will never forget those who lost their lives in the tragic events of April 18 and 19, 2020. One way we can honour the memories of those lost and support the survivors is by continuing to take action and make the changes necessary to help prevent something like this from happening again,” said Houston in the statement.

Nova Scotians should feel safe in their homes and in their communities, said Houston, who also suggested that every one has a role in making families, neighbourhoods and communities safer.

“We know that intimate partner violence is an epidemic in Nova Scotia,” said Houston. “That’s why my government supported the legislation declaring intimate partner violence an epidemic. We must focus on preventing this violence and improve what we do when it happens.”

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