TRURO, N.S. — The public inquiry into the 2020 mass shooting in Nova Scotia issued its final report today, saying the many failings in the RCMP’s response should lead to an overhaul of the national police force.

The seven-volume report from the Mass Casualty Commission says an external review of the RCMP is needed, and the federal public safety minister should then identify responsibilities that could be better handled by other policing agencies.

The three-member commission found the Mounties failed to notice years of warning signs about the killer, who fatally shot 22 people — including an RCMP officer — on April 18-19, 2020.

The inquiry heard the 51-year-old denture-maker disguised himself as a police officer and drove a replica police cruiser during a 13-hour rampage that ended when he was shot dead by two RCMP officers at a gas station north of Halifax.

The report also draws links between the shootings and the killer’s mistreatment of women, particularly his spouse — whom he isolated from her family and assaulted for many years.

The commission says the first step in preventing mass violence is recognizing the danger of escalation inherent in all forms of violence, including gender-based, intimate-partner and family violence.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 30, 2023.

The Canadian Press

WINNIPEG — A Winnipeg judge has acquitted a now-retired 93-year-old priest of assault after a residential school survivor accused him of forcing himself on her more than 50 years ago. 

Victoria McIntosh testified she was assaulted by Arthur Masse in a bathroom of the Fort Alexander Residential School north of Winnipeg sometime between 1968 and 1970.

McIntosh and Masse were the only witnesses who testified in the two-day judge-alone trial earlier this month. 

Manitoba Court of King’s Bench Justice Candace Grammond said in her decision today that she believed McIntosh was assaulted, but couldn’t determine beyond a reasonable doubt that it was Masse who did it. 

McIntosh, who had about a dozen supporters with her in court, clutched a sweater a family member made for her and stared at the floor as Grammond read her analysis. 

Masse stared straight ahead while the decision was being read. 

The Indian Residential Schools Resolution Health Support Program has a hotline to help residential school survivors and their relatives suffering trauma invoked by the recall of past abuse. The number is 1-866-925-4419.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on March 30, 2023. 

The Canadian Press