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

Myra Freeman, the chair of the Progress Monitoring Committee, delivers updates on the progress and action being made on the 130 recommendations made by the Mass Casualty Commission. (Jesse Thomas/CTV Atlantic)

The committee monitoring progress on the 130 recommendations made by the Mass Casualty Commission said progress is being made in three key areas, including gender-based intimate partner violence, access to firearms and police oversight.

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 that progress has been made in three key areas, including gender-based intimate partner violence, access to firearms and reforms to strengthen the provinces independent police watchdog, the Serious Incident Response Team (SiRT).

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

Police officers with RCMP’s tactical unit eventually caught up with the gunman. The gunman was shot and killed him outside a truck-stop and gas station along Highway 102 in Enfield, Nova Scotia.

The PMC was set up in 2023 in cooperation 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: 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 Scotia community groups.

The PMC has a three-year mandate and meet quarterly. They’ll meet again in December where the RCMP will take part.

More details to come.

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