The inquiry into the Portapique mass murder and the subsequent police response has concluded. And among the 126-page document produced by the inquiry commission is the somewhat startling revelation that in the days immediately following the mass murders, the RCMP Commissioner was pressuring investigators to release information about the firearms used in order to support pending gun control legislation - information that investigators felt would compromise their investigation.
This was reported by RCMP Support Services Officer Darren Campbell, who took handwritten notes after a tense meeting with RCMP Commissioner Lucki. At the meeting, Campbell states the Commissioner reprimanded him and others associated with the investigation for not releasing specific firearm information, saying;
"The Commissioner said she had promised the Minister of Public Safety and the Prime Minister’s Office that the RCMP (we) would release this information. I tried to explain there was no intent to disrespect anyone however we could not release this information at this time. The Commissioner then said that we didn’t understand, that this was tied to pending gun control legislation that would make officers and the public safer. She was very upset and at one point Deputy Commissioner (Brian) Brennan tried to get things calmed down but that had little effect. Some in the room were reduced to tears and emotional over this belittling reprimand."
This meeting was called after Campbell hosted a press conference on April 28, 2020, just one week after the murders, in which he refused to go into detail about the firearms used, stating only that the perpetrator had two semi-automatic handguns, and two semi-automatic rifles. According to Campbell's submissions, the Commissioner stated that she'd specifically directed the Nova Scotia RCMP Communications staff to release details of the firearms; a directive Campbell declined. Campbell maintained that releasing those details would have compromised investigative efforts both north and south of the border dedicated to finding the source of the illegally smuggled firearms in question. And it was that lack of information provided to journalists that apparently spurred the RCMP Commissioner to ask for the above-mentioned meeting.
The report also indicates that Lucki likely faced political pressure herself in the immediate aftermath of the murders, with Nova Scotia Communications Director Lia Scanlan expressing frustration with Lucki's one-on-one interviews with press hours after the perpetrator had been killed. In these interviews, Lucki reported 13, 14, and finally 17 victims as the Sunday evening interviews progressed - information that even Nova Scotia RCMP did not have. When asked about these interviews by Mass Casualty Commission lawyer Krista Smith in February, Scanlan stated; "The commissioner releases a body count that we (Communications) don’t even have. She went out and did that. It was all political pressure. That is 100% Minister Blair and the Prime Minister. And we have a Commissioner that does not push back."
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